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NARRATIVE  OF  ANDERSON V1LLE, 

DRAWN  FROM  THE  EVIDENCE  ELICITED  ON 

THE  TRIAL  OF  HENRY   WIRZ, 

THE   JAILEK. 


WITH   THE   ARGUMENT   OF   COL.   N.  P.   CHIPMAN, 

JUDGE  ADVOCATE. 


BY  AMBROSE    SPENCER. 


NEW    YORK: 
HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLIN      SQUARE. 

1866. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-six,  by 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District 
of  New  York. 


DEDICATION. 

TO   THE  FEW   BRAVE   MEN 

WHO  HAVE  SURVIVED  THE  HORRORS  OF  THEIR 

IMPRISONMENT    AT    AND  ER  SON  VILLE, 

THIS  IMPERFECT  RECITAL  OF  THEIR  WRONGS  AND  SUFFERINGS 
IS  RESPECTFULLY  INSCRIBED  BY 

THE  AUTHOR. 

Americus,  Georgia,  18G6. 


250571 


PREFACE. 


Ix  placing  this  "  Narrative"  before  the  public,  I  have 
no  apology  to  make  except  for  the  manner  in  which  the 
work  has  been  executed.  It  is  a  source  of  regret  to  me 
that  I  have  been  unable  to  clothe  in  proper  language  the 
story  of  the  great  wrongs  perpetrated  in  the  Anderson- 
ville  Prison.  It  is  cause  of  still  greater  regret  that  I  have 
been  forced  to  repeat  and  publish  that  which  it  would 
have  been  better  to  bury  forever  from  public  sight.  The 
choice  was  not  permitted  me,  for  a  true  narrative  required 
a  full  disclosure  of  words  as  well  as  deeds  to  satisfy  the 
demand  for  information  of  what  was  there  done. 

The  facts  contained  in  these  pages  have  been  drawn 
from  the  evidence  elicited  at  the  trial  of  Henry  Wirz  be 
fore  the  Military  Commission  appointed  for  that  purpose, 
together  with  personal  knowledge  which  a  near  residence 
to  the  spot  would  necessarily  give. 

My  object  in  this  publication  is  not  to  minister  to  a 
morbid  curiosity,  but  to  place  on  record  how  outrages  and 
murders  have  been  committed  under  the  fictitious  plea 
of  a  struggle  for  independence. 

The  entire  evidence  taken  on  the  trial  was  too  volu 
minous  to  be  given  in  detail,  and  I  have  therefore  adopt 
ed  the  style  of  narrative,  through  which  I  could  better 
condense  the  facts  proved. 


Vlll  PKEFACE. 

It  will  be  seen  that  free  use  has  been  made  of  the  able 
argument  of  the  Judge  Advocate  upon  the  trial  of  Wirz ; 
and  the  author  may  well  express  his  obligations  to  Col 
onel  N.  P.  Chipman  for  the  aid  he  has  given  him,  as  for  his 
argument,  which  he  has  made  a  part  of  his  Narrative.  As 
to  its  value,  it  is  deemed  sufficient  to  insert  here  the  opin 
ion  of  the  Hon.  Joseph  Holt,  Judge  Advocate  General, 
page  1004,  Keport  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  1865-6 : 

"  As  it  would  be  impossible  to  present,  in  the  limits  of 
a  brief  official  report,  even  an  abstract  of  the  evidence 
upon  this  trial,  a  copy  is  herewith  submitted  of  the  argu 
ment  of  Colonel  N.  P.  Chipman,  Judge  Advocate,  which, 
while  containing  a  lucid  discussion  of  the  questions  of 
law  involved,  exhibits  also  a  most  faithful  summary  of 
the  testimony,  much  of  which,  indeed,  is  set  forth  in  the 
very  language  of  the  witnesses. 

"  It  is  submitted  whether  a  publication  of  the  record 
of  this  case  (similar  to  that  undertaken  by  private  enter 
prise  in  the  instance  of  the  trial  of  the  assassins),  or  of  an 
abridgment  of  the  same,  prepared  by  some  proper  person, 
may  not  well  be  authorized  by  Congress,  not  only  that  a 
permanent  memorial  of  the  testimony  and  proceedings 
may  be  preserved,  but  also  that  the  facts  of  such  testi 
mony  may  be  made  accessible  to  every  student  of  the  re 
bellion. 

"  A  peculiar  characteristic  of  these  state  trials,  and  that 
which  must  invest  them  with  a  deep  historical  import 
ance,  is  the  fact  that,  while  the  accused  were  in  each  case 
adjudged  to  have  been  guilty  of  the  crimes  with  which 
they  were  charged,  the  complicity  in  those  crimes  of  the 
chiefs  of  the  rebellion  was  declared  by  the  court  in  their 


PREFACE.  ix 

findings,  and  upon  testimony  which  is  deemed  to  have 
fully  warranted  the  conclusions  reached.  In  each  case 
the  proof  justified  the  conviction  that  the  prisoners  be 
fore  the  court  were  not  merely  personal  criminals,  but 
conspirators;  that  they  were  the  hirelings  and  accom 
plices  of  the  cabal  of  traitors,  of  whom  Davis  was  the  ac 
knowledged  chief;  and  that  these  traitors  were  in  fact 
as  well  as  in  law,  equally  with  the  accused,  responsible 
for  the  detestable  deeds  which  were  adduced  in  evidence." 
With  such  authority  to  sustain  him,  the  author  consid 
ers  that  no  apology  is  necessary  for  inserting  the  argu 
ment.  AMBROSE  SPENCER. 

AMERICUS,  Georgia,  18GG. 

A2 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Introductory. — Anderson,  Account  of. — Climate. — The  Prison  and  Lo 
cation. — Hovvell  Cobb  first  suggested  it. — Its  Architect  and  Build 
er  Page  15 

CHAPTER  II. 

First  Prisoners. — Their  Reception.  —  Curiosity  of  the  People.  —  Com 
mandant  of  Prison. — A  College  of  Girls  visit  it. — Episode 23 

CHAPTER  III. 

Feeling  of  the  People. — Their  Hostility  to  the  Prisoners. — Preachers. — 
Searches  for  Money  and  Watches. — Popular  Huckstering 32 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Change  of  Administration. — Appointment  of  Winder. — His  Antecedents. 
— Fitness  for  the  Place. — His  Staff. — Son  and  Nephew 43 

CHAPTER  V. 

Wirz  the  Jailer. — His  early  History. — Residence  in  America. — His  Char 
acter. — Duties  as  Jailer. — New  Orders. — The  Dead  Line.— Stringent 
Regulations 55 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Increase  of  Prisoners.— Their  Condition. — The  Hospitals. — Precautions 
for  Guarding. — Winder's  Disposition  of  Artillery  to  rake  the  Stockade. 
— Stoneman's  Raiders.  — Their  Robbery  and  Destitution G3 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Routine  within  the  Prison. — Escaped  Prisoners.— Blood-hounds. — Com 
position  of  the  Pack. — The  Story  of  Achuff. — Wirz  on  a  Hunt. — 
Death  of  the  Cripple  "  Chickamauga." — The  Burying-ground 75 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Kindness  of  Confederate  Surgeons. — Contributions  by  the  Ladies. — Con 
trasts.— ^Refusal  of  Winder  to  permit  Aid  for  the  Sick. — A  Church 
warden's  Language. — Attempt  to  obtain  an  Injunction.  —  The  Re 
sult Page  85 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Effect  of  the  Injunction.— Commission  to  examine  the  Hospitals. — Re 
port. —Counter-testimony. —  Cumulative  Evidence. — Poisonous  vac 
cine  Matter. — Stimulants. — Provisions 99 

CHAPTER  X. 

'  Wire's  Shooting,  Beating,  and  Stamping. — Starvation. — Duncan. — Story 
of  Hamilton. — Twenty -fourth  Hew  York  Battery. — Exchanging 
Meat. — Did  the  Confederate  Government  know  of  these  Things  ? 
—Proof 109 

CHAPTER  XI. 

*  Result  of  this  Treatment  on  the  Prisoners. — Moral  Restraint  destroyed. — 
Scenes  within  the  Prison. — Wirz  afraid. — Tunneling. — Robbery  and 
Murder. — Executions 126 

CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Winter  of  1864. — Its  Rigor. — Personal  Experiences. — Escaped  Pris 
oner. — He  is  saved. — Efforts  of  the  Masons  to  relieve  the  Suffering. — 
Success 136 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  End  at  Last. — Peace. — Wirz  in  Fear. — Letter  to  General  Wilson. — 
His  Apprehension  and  Trial. — Constitution  of  the  Court. — Effect  of 
the  Evidence. — Findings. — Order  for  Execution 143 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Argument  of  Judge  Advocate. — Jurisdiction  of  the  Court. — Reasons  of 
Force. — Constitutional  Argument 163 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Sufferings  at  Andersonville. — The  Stockado. — The  Cook-house. — The 
Hospital. — Dr.  Jones's  Evidence. — Dr.  Hopkins's  Report 184 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Colonel  Chandler's  Report. — Colonel  Gibbs's  Testimony. — Evidence  of 
Rebel  Officers  and  Soldiers. — Condition  of  the  Hospital Page  208 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Charge  of  Conspiracy. — The  Law  implicating  Co-conspirators. — Davis. 
— Seddon. — Winder. — Intimacy  of  Davis  and  Winder 228 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Reflections  on  the  Argument.— Findings  of  the  Court. — Confirmation 
of  the  Sentence. — Order  of  the  President  of  the  United  States. — The 
Murderer's  Fate. — Tables  of  Mortality 2G5 


ANDERSONVILLE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Introductory. — Anderson,  description  of. — Climate. — The  Prison  and  Lo 
cation. — Howell  Cobb  first  proposing  it. — Its  Architect. 

THE  morning  of  the  27th  of  April,  1865,  beamed 
brightly  over  the  country  of  Southwestern  Georgia  as 
the  rays  of  a  glorious  sun  poured  their  genial  warmth 
and  life  into  the  houses  and  cabins  of  the  dwellers  in  that 
favored  land,  lighting  up  their  hearts  with  a  sense  of  final 
release  from  the  fears  that  four  years  had  almost  made 
familiar  to  them.  The  same  sun  looked  down  upon  a 
stockade  of  unhewn  logs,  surrounding  an  area  within 
whose  limits  crouched,  or  crept,  or  staggered  about  ten 
thousand  living  men,  prisoners  of  war. 

The  chill  winds  of  a  spring  night  had  been  but  indif 
ferent  companions  to  those  whose  health  and  constitu 
tions  had  been  shattered  by  a  long  confinement  there, 
while  they  had  proved  beneficent  protectors  of  the  sick, 
the  wounded,  and  the  dying  there  crowded  together.  To 
the  first  class  their  scanty  provision  of  blankets  and  rags 
did  not  avail  to  ward  off  the  piercing  scrutiny  of  the 
northeastern  airs  which  penetrated  through  their  skins 
and  tingled  in  their  flesh  as  they  muttered  curses  upon 
the  authors  of  their  unquiet. 


16  ANDERSON  VILLE. 

The  others  had  often  blessed  the  breezes  of  the  night, 
that  bore  insensibility  to  pain  and  torture,  and  left  them 
the  luxury  of  senselessness,  paralyzed  to  the  conscious 
ness  of  suffering ;  and  yet  that  morning  light  and  sun 
brought  liberty  to  all  of  them — life  to  many,  and  the 
grateful  alleviation  of  medicine  and  nourishment  to  the 
sick  and  dying. 

It  was  the  morning  of  the  day  upon  which  Joseph  E. 
Johnston,  the  leader  of  the  remnant  of  the  rebel  army, 
had  surrendered  to  General  William  T.  Sherman,  in  com 
mand  of  the  United  States  forces.  The  telegraph  had 
notified  the  land  that  peace  had  at  length  dawned — that 
the  boon  of  freedom  was  at  last  granted  to  the  wretched 
occupants  of  the  prison  upon  which  the  beams  of  that 
April  sun  were  shining.  The  prison  was  at  Anderson. 
Of  that  stockade  and  its  unfortunate  inmates  the  follow 
ing  pages  propose  to  treat. 

The  little  hamlet  of  Anderson,  so  called  from  John  W. 
Anderson,  Esq.,  of  Savannah,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  in 
ternal  improvements  in  the  section  where  it  is  located,  re 
ceived  its  name  in  1853  from  George  W.  Adams,  Esq., 
then  superintendent  of  the  Southwestern  Eailroad.  Its 
original  name  has  received  an  addition  from  the  Post- 
office  Department,  and  is  now  known  as  Andersonvitte.  It 
is  situated  in  about  latitude  32°  10'  N.,  and  longitude  7° 
20'  W.  from  Washington,  in  the  heart  of  the  richest  por 
tion  of  the  cotton  and  corn-growing  region  of  Georgia, 
upon  the  Southwestern  Eailroad,  sixty-two  miles  south 
from  Macon,  and  nine  miles  north  of  Americus,  the  shire- 
town  of  the  county  of  Sumter.  The  population,  at  the 
time  of  locating  the  prison,  did  not  exceed  twenty  per- 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  17 

sons.  The  locality  is  healthy,  being  upon  an  elevated 
ridge  of  light  sandy  soil,  with  rolling  hills  all  around  it, 
remarkable  for  the  dense  growth  of  pine  and  different 
varieties  of  oak.  Throughout  this  immediate  region,  the 
beholder  is  impressed  with  the  appearance  of  gigantic 
trees,  towering  in  their  symmetrical  height,  with  their 
closely  clustering  stems,  which  form  an  apparently  im 
pervious  obstacle  to  free  passage  or  to  distinct  vision. 
The  country  is  thickly  settled  by  enterprising  farmers 
and  planters,  while  the  counties  adjacent  to  Sumter  are 
noted  for  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  as  well  as  for  the  im 
mense  crops  of  cotton  and  corn  which  it  produces. 

The  climate  is  mild,  although  subject  to  extremes  of 
botTa  heat  and  cold,  the  temperature  ranging,  during  the 
months  of  May,  June,  July,  August,  and  September,  to 
88°  of  Fahrenheit  in  the  shade,  while,  with  an  external 
exposure,  the  thermometer  would  indicate,  in  the  same 
months,  110°.  The  coldest  weather  of  that  region  is  dur 
ing  December  and  January,  when  the  ordinary  range  is 
about  42°,  although  the  mercury  has  exhibited  a  mini 
mum  of  18°,  when  ice  of  two  inches  in  thickness  has 
been  made.  Eain  is  not  exceptional  here,  for  during  the 
year  186-1  there  were  one  hundred  and  eight  rainy  clays, 
during  which  there  fell  5-1.205  inches,  while  there  were 
ninety-four  humid  or  moist  days.  By  barometrical  ob 
servations,  Andersonville  is  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  feet  above  tide-water.  The  wells,  and  springs,  and 
clear  streams  in  its  neighborhood  are  remarkable  for  the 
coolness,  pleasant  taste,  and  crystal  transparency  of  their 
contents,  as  for  their  abundant  supply. 

Here,  on  the  27th  day  of  November,  1863,  W.  S.  Win- 


18  ANDERSONVILLE. 

der,  a  captain  in  the  rebel  army,  and  who  was  selected 
for  the  purpose,  came  and  located  the  grounds  for  a  "  Con 
federate  States  Military  Prison."  The  first  suggestion 
for  its  establishment  in  Southwestern  Georgia  is  due  to 
Howell  Cobb,  at  that  time  in  command  of  the  military 
district  of  Georgia  and  Florida. 

The  accumulation  of  prisoners  of  war  at  Eichmond  and 
Salisbury  was  so  great  as  to  cause  serious  inconvenience 
to  the  rebel  authorities,  congregated  as  the  prisoners  were 
at  and  near  the  centre  of  their  military  operations  at  one 
extremity  of  the  Confederacy,  exposed  to  recapture,  and 
requiring  the  detail  of  a  large  force  for  their  safe  keep 
ing.  The  greatest  disadvantage  arising  from  the  con 
centration  of  so  many  thousand  prisoners  at  the  seat  of 
the  Confederate  government  was  the  consumption  of  pro 
visions  destined  for  their  army,  together  with  the  diffi 
culty  of  transporting  immense  stores  to  that  point,  over 
single  lines  of  roads  with  insufficient  capacities,  and  for 
a  thousand  miles  from  the  region  where  they  were  pro 
duced.  These  roads  were  liable  to  be  broken,  as  they 
ultimately  were,  by  the  Union  forces,  and  thus  the  means 
of  provisioning  their  army,  as  well  as  the  prisoners,  be  en 
tirely  cut  off. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  determined  to  estab 
lish  military  prisons  at  points  more  remote  from  the  thea 
tre  of  war.  A  correspondence  was  opened  between  the 
War  Department  of  the  rebel  government  and  Howell 
Cobb,  then  having  his  head-quarters  at  Macon,  Georgia, 
which  resulted  in  the  final  selection  of  Andersonville  for 
one  depot  or  prison.  An  examination  was  made  by  W. 
S.  Winder  of  other  localities,  among  them  a  place  near 


ANDERSONVILLE.  19 

the  town  of  Albany,  in  Dougherty  County,  where  a  bold 
and  abundant  spring  was  pointed  out  and  examined  by 
him.  It  is  supposed,  however,  that  the  opposition  of 
those  holding  interests  near  that  place,  coupled  with  argu 
ments  of  its  unhealthfulness,  was  sufficient  to  prevent  its 
selection. 

Another  spot,  singularly  formed  by  nature  for  the  es 
tablishment  and  erection  of  such  a  strong-hold  as  would 
be  required  for  the  purpose,  was  brought  to  the  notice 
of  the  locating  officer,  but  rejected.  Magnolia  Springs, 
twelve  miles  west  of  the  town  of  Americus,  was  the  place 
indicated.  Here  an  ever-flowing  spring,  discharging  six 
ty  gallons  of  the  coldest  and  purest  water  every  minute, 
in  close  proximity  to  a  clear  and  abundant  stream  of 
good  water,  situated  within  a  natural  amphitheatre,  sur 
rounded  by  gentle  eminences  heavily  wooded,  seemed  to 
offer  all  of  the  conditions  required  for  such  a  purpose. 
This,  in  its  turn,  was  also  declined,  and,  as  before  observ 
ed,  Andersonville  received  the  choice  as  the  site  for  the 
future  prison. 

To  the  east  of  the  railroad,  distant  about  sixteen  hund 
red  feet  therefrom,  upon  the  side  of  a  red  clay  hill  look 
ing  to  the  south,  the  first  stakes  to  mark  its  limits  were 
driven.  The  area,  thus  laid  out,  comprised  twenty-two 
acres.  At  the  base  of  the  declivity  there  ran  a  small 
stream  of  water,  about  five  feet  in  breadth  and  not  ex 
ceeding  six  inches  deep,  which  took  its  rise  in  a  swamp 
or  morass  about  fifty  feet  farther  to  the  east,  and  consist 
ed  of  a  matted,  tangled  growth  of  hay  and  swamp-myrtle, 
with  small  tussocks  of  grass  and  logs  of  decaying  wood. 
The  borders  of  the  stream  were  also  of  a  swampy,  miry 


20  ANDEKSONVILLE. 

character,  while  its  course  was  tortuous  and  sluggish,  and 
,  its  water  at  no  time  fit  for  use ;  but,  as  is  well  known  in 
that  country,  the  prolific  parent  of  disease  and  death, 
flowing,  as  it  did,  from  a  reservoir  steeped  in  decaying 
vegetable  matter,  and  noisome  from  the  taste  of  the 
mould  through  which  it  was  filtered.  A  portion  of  this 
stream,  with  its  generating  marsh,  was  confined  within 
the  limits  of  the  prison  bounds,  which  also  extended  up 
the  adjacent  hill  farther  south,  the  two  sides  making  an 
inclination  toward  each  other  with  a  gradual  slope,  and 
at  their  bases  it  ran  out  of  the  western  side.  It  will  be 
well  to  bear  in  mind  the  localities  here  given,  in  order 
to  a  correct  understanding  of  future  details,  with  which 
they  will  be  intimately  connected. 

When  the  site  was  definitely  established,  it  was  found 
to  be  covered  with  a  thick  growth  of  pines  and  oaks, 
which  a  good  taste  would  have  left  in  their  natural  state, 
not  only  as  an  ornament  to  the  inclosure  about  to  be 
erected,  but  as  a  shelter  and  protection  to  those  who 
were  destined  to  confinement  there.  An  appreciative 
humanity  would,  it  is  thought,  have  been  led  to  their  re 
tention  under  any  circumstances.  It  was,  indeed,  sug 
gested  to  W.  S.  Winder  by  a  disinterested  spectator  of 
his  preliminary  proceedings,  but  who  nevertheless  looked 
forward  to  the  possible  sufferings  in  store  for  the  future 
occupants  of  the  place,  that  the  shade  afforded  by  the 
trees  would  prove  grateful  protections  to  the  prisoners. 
The  reply  was  characteristic  of  the  man  and  prophetic 
of  their  future  fate.  "That  is  just  what  I  am  not  going 
to  do !  I  will  make  a  pen  here  for  the  d — d  Yankees, 
where  they  will  rot  faster  than  they  can  be  sent !"  He 


ANDERSONVILLE.  21 

was  a  son  of  John  H.  Winder,  of  whom  more  will  be 
said  hereafter.  The  trees  were  leveled  to  the  ground, 
and  the  space  was  cleared,  and  the  construction  of  the 
prison  began. 

A  demand  was  made  upon  the  planters  of  the  adjoin 
ing  country  for  a  portion  of  their  able-bodied  slaves — one 
man  out  of  every  four ;  agents  were  appointed  to  collect 
and  forward  them,  while  Howell  Cobb,  as  the  general 
commanding  the  district,  issued  orders  enforcing  their 
impressment.  A  number  amounting  to  about  six  hund 
red  was  then,  in  a  short  period,  gathered  together,  and, 
under  the  requisite  foremen,  soon  had  the  material  ready 
for  erection. 

It  was  determined  to  construct  the  prison  in  the  form 
of  a  parallelogram,  of  pickets  composed  of  solid  trees, 
twenty-four  feet  in  length ;  these  were  planted  close  to 
gether,  in  a  trench  five  feet  deep,  with  the  earth  after 
ward  thrown  up  around  their  bases ;  the  tops  of  the  pick 
ets  were  roughly  pointed  with  the  axe.* 

Within  the  limits  thus  surrounded,  no  buildings,  bar 
racks,  houses,  or  huts  of  any  kind  were  built.  The  cano 
py  of  the  sky  was  the  only  covering.  Not  a  tree  was 
left,  nor  a  bush,  to  break  the  sameness  or  diversify  the 
utter  dreariness  of  this  destined  and  carefully  -  erected 
abode  for  brave  and  intelligent  men.  The  bare  hill-side, 
void  of  any  encumbrance,  lay  exposed,  awaiting  the  wea 
ried  tread  of  the  thousands  whom  the  reverses  of  war 

*  At  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  another  stockade  of 
the  same  kind,  but  only  twelve  feet  high,  was  erected  as  a  protection  for 
the  inner  one.  The  prison  proper  was  fifteen  hundred  and  forty  feet  long 
and  seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide,  after  an  addition  had  been  made 
to  it,  which  will  be  noticed  hereafter. 


22  ANDEKSONVILLE. 

* 

would  soon  hurry  upon  its  unsheltered  space.  From 
above,  the  bright  burning  sun  could  look  down  and 
scorch  every  thing  its  rays  reached ;  and  as  it  passed  in 
slow  and  apparently  toilsome  march  up  and  over  that 
bare  red  hill,  its  beams  reflected  from  that  barren  surface, 
little,  indeed,  was  left  within  the  blank  inclosure  that  it 
did  not  parch,  as  the  cautery  of  its  sheen  blazed  over  the 
utter  emptiness  there. 

Withering  as  these  influences  would  be  to  those  who 
were  to  be  exposed  to  them,  no  executive  foresight 
looked  forward  to  the  providing  of  shelter  or  protection 
from  the  drenching,  fever -bearing  rains  of  that  region. 
The  laws  which  regulate  civilized  warfare,  and  demand 
kind  attention  for  those  taken  in  arms — which  place  the 
safety,  life,  and  comfort  of  a  prisoner  of  war  upon  the 
same  broad  footing  as  the  honor  of  the  people  who  hold 
him,  were  intentionally  and  cruelly  disregarded.  The 
heats  of  Georgia's  suns,  and  the  influences  of  its  climate, 
were  left  to  do  their  work  upon  those  who  were  bold 
enough  to  court  their  power,  and  unfortunate  enough  to 
be  exposed  to  their  influences. 

And  so  the  stockade  at  Andersonville  was  considered 
complete,  and  ready  for  the  occupation  of  such  as  the 
fate  of  war  should  empty  into  its  soulless  confines.  Its 
architect  and  builder,  Captain  W.  S.  Winder,  of  the  Con 
federate  Army,  satisfied  that  he  had  erected  a  monument 
of  engineering  skill,  departed  for  Kichmond.  He  did  not 
know  that  he  had  built  an  exponent  of  cruelty,  which 
would  stand,  for  long  years  after  he  was  gone,  an  endur 
ing  record  of  malevolence  and  barbarity — that  he  left 
behind  him  a  memorial  that  would  be  a  shame  to  the 
very  country  in  which  it  was  placed ! 


ANDERSONVILLE.  23 


CHAPTER  II. 

First  Prisoners. — Their  Reception.  —  Curiosity  of  the  People.  —  Com 
mandant  of  Prison. — A  College  of  Girls  visit  the  Prison. — Episode. 

ON  the  15th  of  February,  1864,  the  first  detachment 
of  Federal  prisoners  were  received  at  the  "  Confederate 
/States  Military  Prison  at  Andersonville.'1'1  It  was  composed 
of  captured  soldiers  of  the  New  Hampshire,  Connecticut, 
New  Jersey,  and  Michigan  regiments  of  infantry  of  the 
United  States  Army.  Among  them  were  men  from 
other  states,  while  some  of  the  nationalities  of  Europe 
were  more  or  less  represented.  Germans,  Frenchmen, 
and  Irishmen  comprised  the  larger  quota  of  the  foreign 
element,  and  were,  perhaps,  the  most  numerous  as  a  class. 
Among  them  were  two  Russians,  old  war  men,  who  had 
faced  the  storm  of  battle  in  the  Crimea,  and  their  bronzed 
faces  looked  as  if  they  could  face  yet  other  storms,  while 
their  stalwart  forms  endured  the  pledge  their  counte 
nances  bore. 

This  detachment,  numbering  in  all  eight  hundred  and 
sixty  mei^  had  been  confined  in  the  prisons  of  Richmond 
from  the  commencement  of  the  war,  and  were  captured 
at  Manassas  and  Bull  Run.  Their  long  sojourn  at  the 
seat  and  centre  of  military  despotism  had  exhausted  all 
of  the  money  or  means  that  they  might  once  have  pos 
sessed,  and  their  clothing  was  rags,  or  patches  of  shreds ; 
their  shoes,  or  foot-covering,  the  impromptu  suggestion 


24  ANDERSONVILLE. 

of  dire  necessity.  Few  of  these  men  had  a  coat,  fewer 
still  had  a  blanket ;  now  and  then  a  torn,  ragged,  greasy 
overcoat  might  be  recognized  among  them — emblems  of 
Fortune's  fickleness  in  that  tattered  crowd.  Their  faces 
begrimed  with  smoke  and  dirt,  their  long,  wiry,  and  un 
combed  hair,  exhibited,  all  taken  together,  a  picture  of 
want  and  filth  strange  and  abhorrent.  They  betrayed  no 
emotion,  however,  as,  shouldering  their  packs  of  wretched 
remnants,  they  shuffled  down  from  the  cars  that  whirled 
them  to  their  future  home.  The  unsubdued  composure, 
the  defiant  port,  and  the  perfect  silence  which  they  dis 
played,  was  in  marked  contrast  with  the  shouts  and  jeers 
of  the  crowds  of  gaping  spectators  who  saluted  their  de 
scent  from  the  train.  They  showed  themselves  men,  if 
they  were  prisoners. 

Shouldering  their  meagre  bundles,  and  falling  into  col 
umn  two  abreast,  they  were  marched  toward  the  gates, 
guarded  on  each  flank  by  portions  of  a  regiment  of  Ala 
bama  troops,  and  followed  by  hundreds  whom  curiosity 
led  thither  to  witness  their  advent.  The  two  Eussians 
before  referred  to  were  the  last  of  the  long  line.  It  was 
a  strange  sight  to  see  these  veterans  as  they  stalked  to 
their  prison,  and  strange  thoughts  and  visions  of  their 
far-off  land  and  their  various  fortunes  crowded  upon  the 
mind.  Whatever  these  may  have  been,  here  tjiey  were, 
representatives  of  adventure  it  may  be,  perhaps  willing 
seekers  of  a  change  that  would  bear  unfavorable  com 
parison  with  the  tyranny  and  hardships  of  their  own 
country.  Yet,  under  the  flag  of  a  Union  about  to  be 
broken,  they  had  yielded  to  their  fate,  and  their  liberty 
was  exchanged  for  imprisonment. 


ANDERSONVILLE.  25 

As  the  column  passed  through  the  gates,  the  veterans 
halted  and  looked  about,  and  gazed  upon  the  dreary  pros 
pect  before  them.  One  turned  to  a  soldier  at  his  side, 
and  exclaimed, 

"Hillo!  what's  this?" 

"Your  prison,"  replied  the  soldier,  "and  I  reckon  you'll 
stay  here  a  while!" 

"  Prison  !"  ejaculated  the  Muscovite,  with  scorn  ;  "in 
my  land  they  wouldn't  put  a  hog  in  such  a  place !" 

"  You'd  better  have  staid  there  then,"  rejoined  Con 
federate  ;  "  what  did  you  come  here  for?" 

"  To  teach  you  how  to  treat  a  prisoner  of  war  decent 
ly,"  said  the  Kussian,  as  he  proudly  limped  by  his  rude 
guardian. 

The  commandant  of  the  post  and  prison  at  this  time 
was  Colonel  A.  W.  Persons,  formerly  of  Fort  Valley, 
Georgia,  and  who  was  in  temporary  command  of  the 
Alabama  regiment  then  stationed  as  a  guard.  The  au 
thority  of  Colonel  Persons, jwaa  not  .oLlong, .duration^ 
but,  during  the  continuance  of  his  command,  no  special 
complaints  were  made  by  the  prisoners  of  cruel  treat 
ment.  Ilis  orders  were  mainly  directed  to  the  safe  keep 
ing  of  the  prisoners  and  the  supply  of  their  commis 
sariat. 

He  allowed  the  prisoners  to  provide  themselves  with 
bushes  and  poles,  with  which  they  could  erect  arbors  and 
shelters  against  the  weather.  He  permitted  squads  to  go 
out  daily  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  fuel,  which  was 
abundant  near  the  prison ;  and  it  is  believed  that,  as  far 
as  his  knowledge  and  experience  of  the  requirements  of 
his  position  permitted,  he  expended  all  the  facilities  in 

B 


26  ANDERSON  VILLE. 

his  power  to  mitigate  the  condition  in  -which  his  prison 
ers  were  placed. 

But  he  did  nothing  more.  He  could  not  provide  lum 
ber  to  erect  shelter  and  protection  for  those  under  his 
charge,  because  he  did  not  make  such  representations  in 
time  to  head-quarters  of  the  deficiencies  and  necessities 
of  the  post  as  his  station  and  duty  required.  He  ought 
to  have  urged  the  erection  of  barracks,  however  rough, 
to  shield  his  prisoners  from  the  elements.  He  did  what, 
in  his  experience,  he  conceived  to  be  his  duty — he  careful 
ly  fed  and  guarded  those  committed  to  his  care.  Their 
health,  their  exposure,  their  sufferings,  were  not  recom 
mended  to  his  notice  in  the  orders  which  assigned  him 
to  the  post,  nor  did  they  enter  into  his  understanding  of 
the  obligations  of  a  commander  of  a  military  prison. 
Within  these  limits  he  regarded  his  duty  as  fulfilled. 

The  author  wishes  to  be  regarded,  in  the  statements 
which  he  makes,  as  impartial  and  unprejudiced  as  his 
sentiments  and  near  residence  to  the  seat  of  the  miseries 
which  he  must  depict  will  permit  him  to  be ;  and  he 
desires  it  may  be  remembered  that  he  is  actuated  by  the 
same  feelings  of  opposition  to  the  usurping  authorities 
of  the  South  that  were  well  known  to  control  him  dur 
ing  the  entire  rebellion.  But  he  trusts  to  his  sense  of 
what  is  due  to  every  man,  the  opportunity  of  giving  his 
own  version  of  events  that  he  controlled  or  associated 
with,  that  no  unjust  or  partial  narration  may  prejudice 
the  minds  of  readers,  or  do  injury  to  his  humanity. 
With  this  view,  and  an  unswerving  intention,  which  his 
correspondence  will  show,  he  addressed  a  note  to  Colonel 
Persons,  asking  him  to  give  a  statement  of  his  adminis- 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  27 

tration  of  the  post  at  Andersonville,  in  order  that  he 
might  correct  or  modify  the  official  accounts  which  the 
author  had  at  hand.  The  reply  which  was  received,  and 
a  subsequent  personal  interview,  resulted  in  affording  no 
additional  information  to  what  was  within  the  reach  of, 
and  officially  given  to  the  author.  He  hoped  that  calm 
ness  and  reflection  would  have  induced  a  plain  and  unre 
strained  communication  of  motives  and  conduct,  that 
must  have  added  to  the  character  which  Colonel  Persons 
enjoyed  while  in  command  of  the  prison.  In  default  of 
other  means  of  information,  the  Narrativa  will  depend, 
necessarily,  upon  the  evidence  at  hand. 

The  arrival  of  this  detachment  of  prisoners  created  un 
usual  excitement  in  the  region  of  the  prison.  Daily 
crowds  rushed  to  the  stockade  to  look  through  the 
chinks  of  the  pickets,  and  gaze  on  those  within.  Upon 
the  adjacent  hills  and  eminences  multitudes  could  be 
seen  staring  and  glowering  upon  the  prisoners,  and 
watching  each  motion  of  the  unfortunate  occupants. 
Women  went  there  day  after  day ;  forsaking  more  press 
ing  demands  upon  their  time  at  home,  and  bearing  their 
suckling  babes  upon  their  bosoms,  they  might  be  seen 
squatting  upon  the  ground  and  gossiping,  in  the  inter 
vals  relieving  the  hours  with  dipping  snuff  or  nursing 
their  offspring,  while  they  knitted  socks  and  gloated  over 
the  novel  sight,  or  speculated  upon  the  prospect  before 
them. 

Old  men  and  boys  trudged  miles  to  this  Mecca  of 
sights  to  look  at  the  "Yankees,"  and  they  loitered  and 
lounged  around,  while  their  plows  stood  idle  in  the  fur 
rows  of  their  neglected  fields,  and  grass  was  smothering 


28  ANDERSONVILLE. 

their  neglected  but  needed  crops ;  or,  perchance,  their 
ill-fed  and  half-starved  mules  stood  patiently  near,  await 
ing  their  return  to  work  and  starvation.  Negroes  of  all 
sexes,  ages,  and  appearance  sauntered  around  and  stared, 
with  eyes  turned  inside  out,  at  the  ragged  representatives 
of  those  who  had  marched  into  captivity  in  order  to  set 
them  free.  They  shouted,  and  cheered,  and  wrestled 
with  each  other  as  in  a  holiday,  in  the  exuberance  of 
their  glee,  just  as  if  they  were  witnessing  the  sports  in 
the  ring  of  a  circus,  and  yelled  out  their  choicest  bits  of 
wit  upon  the  ;wretched  men  they  insulted. 

Ladies,  who  made  a  boast  of  superior  refinement  and 
prided  themselves  upon  their  intelligence — who  had  ridi 
culed  the  pretensions  and  fashions  of  the  North,  but  aft- 
erward  willingly  adopted  them — who  deemed  all  the  vir? 
tue  and  patriotism  of  the  country  centred  in  some  unde 
fined  spot,  sought  the  charmed  precincts  of  Anderson- 
ville,  followed  by  their  menial  attendants  bearing  shawls 
and  baskets,  to  gloat  over  the  captured  prisoners,  or  to 
congratulate  each  other  that  their  virtue  was  secure,  for  a 
time  at  least,  from  those  ravishing  marauders  who  were 
safe  from  their  attractions. 

There  was  a  high  school — college  it  is  called  here  in 
the  South — for  girls,  that  emptied  its  walls  of  its  inno 
cent  but  curious  inmates,  and  in  detachments,  as  the  force 
of  circumstances  required,  some  loading  the  cars  upon 
the  railroad,  others  easily  gliding  in  luxurious  carriages, 
and  many  lumbering  along  in  such  conveyances  as  could 
be  improvised,  accompanied  by  the  president  and  guard 
ian  professors,  hurried  in  expectant  curiosity  to  the  cen 
tre  of  attraction.  When  there,  they  chattered,  flirted, 


ANDERSONVILLE.  29 

stared,  and  ate  their  sandwiches,  and  took  notes  of  what 
they  saw  as  themes  for  their  next  weekly  compositions. 

Amid  the  throng  Cupid  came,  the  arch  boy.  His 
quiver  was  not  well  filled,  for  volunteering  and  impress 
ment  had  deprived  the  traitor  of  one  half  of  his  victims. 
But  his  armory  was  not  unsupplied.  He  shot  the  com 
mandant  of  the  post  and  one  whom  he  destined  as  his 
mate,  and  with  a  single  shaft  transfixed  the  two.  The 
first  yielded  up  his  arms;  the  other  simpered,  simply 
courtesied — both  were  captives. 

With  others  of  the  crowd  of  curious  visitors,  there  was 
one,  a  young  miss  of  sixteen,  somewhat  more  forward 
than  young  ladies  of  that  tender  age  are  supposed  to  be, 
well  known  in  the  place  where  she  lived  for  her  strong 
secession  proclivities  as  well  as  for  her  fair  face.  Fre 
quent  pilgrimages  to  this  shrine  of  loyalty  had  apparent 
ly  satisfied  the  curiosity  which  attracted  others,  for  her 
attentions  seemed  to  be  directed  to  other  objects  than 
those  within  the  prison  bounds,  and  her  presence  there 
was  evidently  a  redundant  offering  of  beauty  to  valor 
and  misfortune. 

One  day,  when  there  was  more  than  the  usual  assem 
blage  of  gazers,  she  was  observed  mounting  the  steps 
which  led  to  a  sentinel's  platform  on  the  outside  of  the 
stockade,  followed  by  a  diminutive  specimen  of  female 
Africanism.  The  natural  black  of  the  attendant's  features 
was  placed  in  vivid  contrast  with  a  snowy  turban  wound 
around  her  head,  which,  together  with  her  big,  rolling- 
white  eyes  and  glittering  teeth,  brought  out  the  ebony 
of  her  complexion  to  an  extraordinary  degree.  Beckon 
ing  the  dusky  satellite  to  her  side,  and  looking  over  the 


30  ANDERSONVILLE. 

top  of  the  palisades  down  into  the  area  beneath  where 
the  prisoners  were  congregated,  she  cried  out  to  the  poor 
fellows  within, 

" Look  here,  Yanks!'' 

Startled  at  the  fair  apparition,  they  all  gazed  up  at  her. 

"Do  you  see  this  nig?"  she  shouted,  pointing  to  her 
follower. 

"Well,  she's  your  sister;  do  you  know  it?"  and  ex 
clamations  of  delight  at  this  unexpected  display  of  deli 
cacy  and  wit  resounded  through  the  throng  of  outside 
admirers  as  the  refined  exhibitor  slowly  descended  from 
her  conspicuous  perch. 

Thus,  for  many  days  after  its  first  occupation,  the  stock 
ade  was  the  centre  of  attraction  for  the  surrounding  coun 
try.  Nor  did  the  curiosity  of  the  people  ever  entirely 
abate  during  the  time  it  was  inhabited,  or  did  they  cease 
to  throng  about  it  to  wonder  and  speculate. 

The  prison  could  now  be  considered  as  fairly  initiated, 
and  the  absolute  wants  of  those  first  sent  there  were  sup 
plied  in  so  far  as  food  alone  was  concerned.  But  yet  no 
steps  were  taken  to  provide  quarters  or  shelter.  This 
neglect  upon  the  part  of  the  rebel  authorities,  of  the  offi 
cer  who  planned  and  erected  it,  and  of  its  present  com 
mandant,  can  not  be  excused  upon  ordinary  grounds. 
The  materials  for  the  construction  of  barracks  existed 
near  at  hand,  in  the  superabundant  timber  with  which 
the  whole  country  was  supplied.  Cabins,  or  huts  of 
logs,  such  as  answer  the  necessities  and  requirements  of 
many  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  country,  and  which  afford 
ample  and  comfortable  abodes,  might  have  been  built 
easily  and  expeditiously  by  the  negroes  who  raised  the 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  31 

stockade.  But  there  was  no  necessity  of  resorting  to  this 
plan  even.  Mills  for  sawing  timber  were  numerous  in 
the  immediate  neighborhood  of  Andersonville;  one  was 
established  and  at  work,  propelled  by  steam,  when  the 
site  of  the  prison  was  determined  upon,  within  sixteen 
hundred  yards ;  another,  also  driven  by  steam^  and  which 
continued  work  during  the  entire  war,  was  located  five 
miles  from  that  place,  upon  the  railroad.  There  were 
four  other  steam  saw-mills  within  twenty  miles,  also  situ 
ated  upon  the  railroad,  whose  combined  production  of 
lumber  has  been  estimated  at  over  twenty  thousand  feet 
per  day. 

The  facilities  for  transportation  were  equal  to  any  at 
the  South,  while  labor,  that  of  negroes  especially,  could 
be  obtained  without  difficulty.  Material,  such  as  nails, 
was  already  in  the  possession  of  the  authorities,  and 
nothing  but  a  willingness  was  wanting  to  provide  such 
plain  but  necessary  coverings  for  the  prisoners  as  com 
mon  humanity  dictated. 

This  was  not  done  then  nor  at  any  subsequent  period, 
and  the  interior  of  the  stockade  remained,  as  it  has  been 
already  described,  a  vast  open  parallelogram,  whose  in 
terior  was  unencumbered  save  by  the  unfortunates  there 
incarcerated,  and  who  were  destined  to  remain  there,  with 
thousands  of  others  subsequently  added,  exposed  to  the 
burning  suns  of  summer,  the  drenching  rains  of  autumn, 
and  the  cold  blasts  of  winter,  unprotected  and  uncared  for. 


32  ANDERSONVILLE. 


CHAPTER  in. 

Feeling  of  the  People. — Searches  for  Money  and  Watches. — Preachers. 
— Popular  Huckstering. 

IN  a  narrative  of  all  of  the  circumstances  and  events 
connected  with  the  treatment  and  abuse  of  the  prisoners 
of  war  confined  at  this  place,  it  has  occurred  to  the  au 
thor  that  an  exposition  of  the  sentiments  of  the  people 
who  lived  in  its  immediate  vicinity  would  not  be  mis 
placed.  He  is  well  aware  of  the  tender  ground  upon 
which  he  is  about  to  tread,  and  anticipates  the  strictures 
to  which  he  will  be  subjected  in  entering  upon  this  por 
tion  of  his  subject.  It  has  long  been  a  prevalent  princi 
ple,  to  which  he  enters  his  protest,  that  individual  opinion 
is  sacred  from  exposure,  and  exempt  from  the  test  of  a 
public  examination.  This,  in  the  abstract,  may  be  true ; 
but  when  that  opinion  operates  directly  so  as  to  influence 
momentous  human  interests,  it  is  liable  to  inquiry,  and,  if 
detrimental  to  these  interests,  it  ought  to  be  exposed  to 
censure. 

It  is  not  without  reluctance,  but  still  with  a  stern  de 
termination  to  do  his  entire  duty,  that  the  author  has  re 
solved  to  record  such  opinion  and  sentiment.  He  will 
not  extenuate  them,  for  that  would  be  contrary  to  his 
own  sense  of  propriety ;  he  cannot  exaggerate  them,  for 
that  would  be  impossible.  It  is  proper  that  the  world 
should  not  forget  or  overlook  the  great  wrong  which  has 


ANDERSONVILLE.  33 

been  committed  through  the  direct  operation  of  this  same 
individual  opinion,  and  under  the  sacred  name  of  liberty. 
It  is  right  that  the  crimes  which  sprung  from  the  prev 
alence  of  opinions  so  bitter  should  be  remembered, 
traced  to  their  source  and  pondered,  and  that  its  tyranny 
should  be  guarded  against.  This  despotism,  constantly 
growing  younger  as  it  increases  in  age,  reproduces  itself 
at  every  epoch,  but  wears  the  same  impassable,  rigid  face 
which  it  has  always  worn,  and  it  can  not  be  too  critically 
examined,  particularly  when  it  paints  its  own  portrait, 
and  when  the  secret  operation  of  its  influence  is  confessed 
by  the  acts  of  those  whom  it  has  controlled. 

It  is  evident  that  the  public  sentiment  of  the  country 
in  regard  to  the  prisoners  at  the  Andersonville  stockade 
would  produce  its  legitimate  effects  in  the  exact  measure 
that  it  operated  upon  the  minds  of  the  officials  who  had 
them  under  their  control,  and  must  have  a  greater  or  less 
influence  over  their  fate. 

It  is  a  well  known  peculiarity  of  the  human  mind  that, 
however  strong  may  be  the  sense  of  right,  or  however 
powerful  the  restraint  that  law  may  exercise  over  a  man, 
there  is  a  tendency  to  set  aside  both.  When  the  feelings 
of  an  entire  population  agree  with  those  of  one  holding 
almost  unlimited  power,  it  does  not  require  an  extended 
argument  to  prove  that  the  preponderance  of  such  an  in 
fluence  will  be  the  guide. 

The  associations  which  daily  intercourse  between  the 
officers  of  the  post  and  the  people  of  the  country  engen 
dered,  the  interchange  of  courtesies,  and  the  unrestrained 
communication  of  opinions  in  the  streets  of  towns,  in 
places  of  business,  and  the  free  expressions  uttered  around 

B2 


34  ANDERSONVILLE. 

the  firesides,  could  not  fail  to  produce  their  fruits  upon 
the  conduct  of  those  officers. 

That  Hhe  views  of  the  people  who  resided  near  the 
prison  were  characteristically  hostile  to  all  who  savored 
of  an  inclination  for  the  Union  and  government  of  the 
United  States  is  too  patent  to  demand  more  than  its  as 
sertion.  These  hostile  feelings,  however,  were  carried  far 
beyond  the  mere  fact  of  condemning  those  who  opposed 
the  war  of  secession;  they  were  directed  with  an  in 
tensity  which  meets  no  parallel  against  individual  actors. 
The  soldiers  who  composed  the  Federal  army  were  the 
special  objects  of  their  animadversion.  Not  alone  did 
the  common  people  indulge  in  expressions  of  hate  and 
vindictiveness  toward  them,  but  men  of  education  and 
intelligence,  those  occupying  high  and  leading  positions, 
and  especially  the  clergymen  and  preachers,  availed  them 
selves  of  every  opportunity  to  unleash  the  Nemesis  of 
their  unforgiving  rancor. 

The  captives  were  termed  invaders,  robbers,  brigands, 
highwaymen,  and  ravishers  in  their  addresses,  sermons, 
and  prayers.  The  people  were  invoked  to  cut  them  off 
and  slay  them  wherever  met  with,  and  they  were  held  up 
to  public  detestation  and  destruction.  A  Federal  soldier 
was  a  synonym  for  every  thing  that  was  vile,  and  heaven 
might  be  approached  somewhat  nearer,  in  their  estima 
tion,  by  him  who  aided  in  their  taking  off. 

Humanity  exhibited  to  one  of  the  proscribed  class  was 
considered  as  disloyalty  to  the  government  they  were 
striving  to  erect. 

One  preacher  of  influence  in  his  denomination,  and 
who  stood  forth  as  a  shining  light  of  religion,  proved 


ANDERSONVILLE.  35 

from  the  Scriptures  that  kindness  shown  to  a  Union 
prisoner  was  treason  to  God !  With  such  a  state  of  pub 
lic  opinion,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  officers  in  com 
mand  at  Andersonville  should  become  infected  with  the 
moral  poison  that  pervaded  the  community.  And  they 
were,  as  the  event  will  prove. 

For  some  time  before  the  occurrences  to  be  detailed 
transpired,  the  effect  of  the  opinions  adverted  to  became 
manifest,  and  it  was  not  uncommon  to  hear  suggestions 
that  the  provisions  which  the  prisoners  consumed  ought 
to  be  saved  for  the  use  of  the  rebel  armies ;  that  shooting 
every  one  who  attempted  his  escape  and  was  caught; 
poisoning  those  who  were  prostrated  by  disease,  to  rid 
the  Confederacy  of  their  sustenance  by  food  or  medicine; 
hanging  those  who  were  mutinous,  and  thus,  after  an  im 
proved  supplement  to  the  plan  of  Furioso,  "take  them 
off  in  detail,"  and  so  clear  the  country  of  their  presence. 
Food  of  the  coarsest  character,  such  as  a  master  would 
be  ashamed  to  dole  out  to  his  slaves,  was  begrudged 
them ;  not  that  its  supply  would  detract  from  what  was 
required  for  their  army,  but  because  it  was  universally 
thought  that  the  prisoners  were  not  fit  to  live. 

Such  was  the  feeling  of  a  large,  very  large  proportion 
of  the  inhabitants  living  in  the  county  and  country  ad 
joining  the  Andersonville  stockade.  Its  practical  effects 
will  be  noticed  in  their  order  in  subsequent  chapters. 

Meanwhile  more  prisoners  were  arriving,  as  the  casual 
successes  of  the  Confederate  arms  reaped  their  harvests. 
The  trains  of  the  Southwestern  Eailroad  daily  poured  out 
their  living  freight  at  the  depot  of  war-worn,  sick,  and 
wounded  soldiers.  Buildings  for  the  accommodation  of 


36  ANDERSON  VILLE. 

the  requisite  officers  of  the  post  were  rising  up,  others  for 
store-houses  of  provisions  and  tools  began  to  appear,  and 
the  once  quiet  hamlet,  aroused  only  by  the  daily  whistle 
of  the  locomotive  as  it  passed  or  stopped  in  its  current 
travel,  now  quickened  into  life  with  the  busy  stir  of  the 
multitudes  that  met  there  for  trade,  duty,  or  curiosity. 
Extra  trains  were  arriving,  bearing  from  fresh  fields  those 
who  had  fallen  captives  to  the  rebel  arms,  and  were 
emptied  into  the  hands  and  turned  over  to  the  tender 
mercies  of  their  new  jailers. 

As  the  guards  received  them,  such  valuables  as  could 
be  found  upon  them  stood  but  a  poor  chance  from  their 
scrutinizing  eyes  and  prying  hands,  as  they  deftly  found 
their  way  into  the  prisoners'  pockets.  Greenbacks  and 
watches  began  to  make  an  appearance  where  formerly 
nothing  but  Confederate  money  or  empty  fobs  prepon 
derated  ;  and  that  prisoner  was  indeed  fortunate  whose 
sagacity  and  cunning  had  contrived  a  secure  hiding-place 
for  either.  In  this  early  history  of  the  prison,  those  well- 
conducted,  nicely-contrived,  and  perfectly-executed  sys 
tems,  which  regulated  like  machinery  all  of  the  details 
of  search  and  appropriation,  which  were  so  marked  a 
characteristic  of  its  subsequent  management,  were  not 
proclaimed.  It  was  reserved  for  the  succeeding  com 
mander  to  devise  those  refined  peculations,  the  fruit  of 
which,  instead  of  being  generally  distributed,  was  gather 
ed  into  the  private  garners  of  its  projector.  Before  their 
advent,  and  at  the  period  of  which  we  now  treat,  there 
was  no  organized  plan  to  despoil  the  poor  fellows  des 
tined  to  this  prison.  Carelessness,  or  a  disregard  to  his 
own  personal  emoluments,  had  not  led  Colonel  Persons 


ANDERSONVILLE.  87 

to  provide  for  the  spoliation  of  the  men  sent  to  him  be 
fore  they  were  conveyed  to  their  prison. 

The  consequence  was,  that  the  guard  of  Confederate 
soldiers  searched  for  and  seized  whatever  they  could  find 
upon  the  persons  of  the  new-comers,  and  strange  scenes 
were  witnessed  as  the  result  of  the  scrutiny. 

On  the  10th  day  of  March  three  trains  of  cars  arrived 
full  of  fresh  captives.  The  platform  upon  which  they 
were  landed,  not  more  than  sixty  feet  long  and  twenty 
broad,  was  crowded.  Around  this,  as  guards,  were  sta 
tioned  one  company  of  infantry ;  but  the  curious  specta 
tor  would  have  searched  in  vain  for  the  full  complement. 
There  were  some  men  with  arms  at  port,  who  made  a 
show  of  doing  duty ;  the  rest  could  be  seen  intermingled 
with  the  prisoners  in  unusual  activity  upon  the  platform. 

From  the  dress  and  appearance  of  the  captives,  it  could 
be  easily  surmised  that  they  were  either  new  recruits, 
or  that  but  a  short  time  had  elapsed  since  they  had  re 
ceived  their  pay  and  clothing.  Their  uniforms  were  but 
little  worn  or  soiled,  their  knapsacks  were  shining  and 
apparently  well  filled,  and  their  feet  were  shod  in  sub 
stantial  shoes.  There  were  three  hundred  and  fifty  in 
all ;  they  had  been  captured  from  the  Army  of  the  Ten 
nessee  by  Bragg  during  his  forced  retreat  from  Mur- 
freesboro'  and  across  the  river;  and,  although  veterans, 
their  semi-annual  allowance  had  been  given  their  division 
but  two  days  before  the  engagement  that  resulted  in  the 
loss  of  their  liberty.  It  was  evident  that  they  were  old 
stagers,  and  had  an  eye  to  their  own  interests,  if  they 
were  prisoners. 

"  I  see  you  there,  Reb !"  cried  one ;  "  come  out  of  my 


38  ANDERSONVILLE. 

pocket,  will  you  ?"  grasping  a  hand  that  had  obtruded  it 
self  into  the  sacred  precincts.  "  There's  nothing  there, 
I'll  swear,  so  come  out.J' 

"What  are  you  talking  of?  Ain't  in  yer  pocket," 
says  Eeb. 

"  Yes  ye  are ;  now  jis  give  up  that  watch,  will  you  ?" 

"Hain't  got  nary  watch — leastaways  none  o'  yourn," 
he  asserted  in  return,  as  he  pocketed  the  coveted  article. 

"Now,  darn  you!"  vociferated  another,  "give  up  my 
pocket-book ;  I  felt  you  when  you  took  it." 

"  I  didn't,"  replied  the  accused ;  "  it  just  fell  down,  so ; 
and,  'sides,  I  hain't  seen  it,"  he  muttered.  "  Anyways, 
you  bloody  raiders  hev  no  use  er  sich  things  here." 

"  If  I  had  you  the  other  side  of  Tennessee,  I'd  show 
you  how  to  steal  a  fellow's  money,"  rejoined  the  prisoner. 

"  Don't  tell  me  I  stole,"  said  Confed ;  "  'twon't  be  good 
for  you." 

"  Well,  you  did,"  replied  the  soldier ;  "  and  that  ain't 
all — you're  so  used  to  it  down  here  in  Dixie  you  don't 
know  when  you  do  steal."  But  the  anathema  and  charge 
produced  no  effect,  and  the  porte  -  monnaie  and  its  con 
tents  changed  hands. 

"  Give  me  back  my  shoes,  there !"  shouted  a  poor  fel 
low,  who,  seated  upon  the  edge  of  the  platform,  was  en 
gaged  in  solacing  his  travel-worn  feet,  aggravated  by  a 
pair  of  new  shoes  which  he  had  received  but  a  short  time 
before  his  capture,  and  which  he  had  deposited  tempo 
rarily  at  his  side. 

"  Give  back  them  shoes!"  he  vociferated,  as  the  depre 
dator  was  wending  his  way  out  of  the  throng  with  his 
booty  under  his  arms. 


ANDERSONVILLE.  39 

"Who's  got  this  man's  shoes?"  exclaimed  another. 

"Yes,  who's  got  'em,  I  say !"  shouted  a  third. 

"  Here's  a  pair  of  old  'uns  I'll  give  for  'em !"  cried  one. 

"I'll  give  one  hundred  dollars  for  those  shoes,"  echoed 
another,  "in  a  horn!" 

"  I'd  like  to  see  him  find  'em  again !"  said  a  barefooted 
guard,  who  doubtless  envied  the  possessor  of  the  valua 
ble  articles. 

"Yes,  that's  just  the  way  of  you  darned  fools  of  Rebs," 
said  the  despoiled  one,  solacing  himself  with  his  objurga 
tion  ;  "you  haven't  seen  sole-leather  for  so  long  you'd 
take  it  off  a  dead  nigger's  foot,  I'll  be  bound." 

"  Now  shut  up,  Yank !  none  of  your  gas  here,"  replied 
one  of  his  guardians. 

"Of  course  not,"  rejoined  the  undismayed  fellow; 
"you've  got  so  much  of  that  last  article  down  South 
here,  you  don't  want  any  more  brought  in  for  fear  of 
spiling  the  trade !" 

"I  say,  Yank  I"  hailed  one  of  the  guard,  "two  coats 
is  one  more  than  the  law  allows;  anyhow,  it's  one  too 
many  for  you.  Loan  me  that  'ere  big  'un  for  a  day  or 
so?" 

"  Nary  loan,  Reb,"  returned  he  of  the  overcoat. 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you  what,  I'll  just  take  care  of  it  for 
you  till  you  want  it  again.  You  see,  there's  a  set  of 
darned  thieves  up  in  the  stockade  yonder,  and  you'll  lose 
it  sure." 

"I  reckon  I'll  keep  it,"  said  the  prejudiced  owner. 

"No  you  don't,"  replied  his  banterer;  and,  so  saying, 
he  seized  upon  the  coveted  article,  and  it  disappeared 
from  its  proprietor's  sight  forever. 


40  ANDERSONVILLE. 

Not  often,  however,  did  the  greedy  Confederates  tarry 
to  ask  for  any  article  they  wanted,  or  use  even  the  sem 
blance  of  a  word  in  order  to  possess  themselves  of  the 
property  of  the  prisoners ;  and  so  they  were  deprived  of 
their  money,  watches,  and  clothing  before  they  had  fairly 
entered  upon  the  trials  before  them,  either  by  systematic 
pilfering  or  more  open  robbery.  There  could  be  no 
doubt  entertained  of  the  liberality  of  the  United  States 
government  toward  its  soldiers  in  its  supplies  of  clothes 
and  blankets,  if  the  persons  of  Confederate  soldiers  and 
citizens  were  any  evidence,  for  the  national  blue  of  the 
Union  army  was  the  prevailing  color  for  negroes  and  se 
cessionists  every  where  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ander- 
sonville.  If  a  stranger  had  been  suddenly  thrown  into 
the  midst  of  this  people,  and  had  tried  to  form  an  opinion 
of  the  prevalence  of  loyal  sentiment  from  the  preponder 
ating  hue  in  dress,  the  positions  of  the  belligerents  would 
unquestionably  have  been  reversed,  so  completely  had 
the  two  parties  changed,  in  so  far  as  habiliments  could 
change  them.  The  price  in  Confederate  currency  for  a 
pair  of  pantaloons,  such  as  was  provided  for  the  Federal 
soldiers,  would  have  purchased  an  entire  suit  of  the  best 
broadcloth  before  the  war,  and  yet  they  were  as  common 
in  the  country  as  the  indigenous  productions  of  sheep's- 
gray  or  butternut  jeans.  This  deprivation  of  their  cloth 
ing  was  a  most  serious  loss  to  the  prisoners  in  other  ways 
than  through  the  discomfort  produced,  and,  as  the  sequel 
will  show,  this  was  no  small  privation.  The  scarcity  of 
materials  in  the  Confederacy  from  which  clothes  could 
be  made,  the  high  prices  demanded  in  the  worthless,  dis 
honored  currency  of  the  country,  placed  the  means  of 


ANDERSONVILLE.  41 

supplying  necessities  beyond  the  reach  of  most  every  one, 
except  those  known  as  speculators  or  fire-eaters,  for  the 
terms  are  convertible. 

If  the  prisoners  had  been  allowed  to  retain  such  sur 
plus  as  they  could  conveniently  spare,  it  would  have 
given  them  the  means  of  obtaining  such  necessaries  and 
supplies  as  the  greed  of  gain  induced  the  people  of  the 
country  to  sell  or  barter,  for  every  day  crowds  of  such 
huckstering  spirits  might  be  seen  with  barrels  and  bas 
kets  of  vegetables,  meat,  and  poultry,  thronging  around 
the  stockade  and  seeking  opportunities  to  trade.  Wom 
en,  who  ranked  at  home  as  ladies,  and  whose  daintiness 
compelled  the  use  of  a  carriage  to  transport  them  ten  rods 
to  a  meeting-house,  deprived  themselves  and  families  of 
flour,  sugar,  and  molasses,  to  make  up  for  sale  cakes  and 
pies  for  the  Andersonville  market.  Their  gardens  were 
stripped  of  their  produce  to  supply  their  stock  in  trade, 
and  their  household  interests  were  suffered  to  go  by  de 
fault  that  their  servants  might  be  sent  with  their  contri 
butions  to  this  emporium.  N~or  did  their  profits  disap 
point  their  expectations.  The  troops  on  duty  as  guards 
to  the  prisoners  caught  the  spirit  of  speculation,  and  be 
came  ready  purchasers,  to  sell  again  to  the  captives,  or 
to  exchange  with  them  for  their  rags  and  soleless  shoes. 
Thus  a  brisk  market  was  opened  for  the  mercenary  trad 
ers  of  the  neighborhood,  who  only  aped  the  example  set 
them  by  more  expanded  capitalists,  and  so  another  class 
was  added  to  the  hungry  swarm  of  money -loving  patri 
ots  who  were  engaged  in  dissolving  the  Union. 

It  must  not  be  inferred  from  a  preceding  remark  that 
the  scarcity  in  clothing  material  extended  to  the  States  or 


42  ANDERSONVILLE. 

to  the  Confederate  government.  Both  of  these,  through 
agents  abroad,  had  procured  and  were  purchasing  large 
amounts  of  cloth  and  shoes.  Add  to  this  the  uncon 
trolled  resources  of  the  government  in  fabricating  money,  _ 
or  what  passed  for  money,  the  unrestrained  enforcement 
of  laws  for  impressing,  seizing,  or  pretended  purchasing 
granted  to  its  agents  at  home,  to  its  commissaries  and 
quarter-masters,  of  which  every  town  contained  enough 
to  form  a  company  of  infantry,  afforded  the  government 
all  the  supplies  that  it  required.  When  this  unscrupu 
lous  purchaser  came  into  the  market  with  his  inexhausti 
ble  means  and  unsatisfied  wants,  the  price  of  all  com 
modities  rose  beyond  the  reach  of  most  persons,  and  put 
their  purchase  out  of  their  power. 

To  this  cause  was  it  principally  owing  that  such  great 
anxiety  was  manifested  by  the  people  in  obtaining  the 
clothes  of  the  Federal  soldiers  for  their  own  use;  nbt  that 
the  national  color  tallied  so  well  with  their  loyalty,  but 
that  the  coats  and  pantaloons  of  the  prisoners  enabled 
them  to  present  a  somewhat  decent  appearance  in  public. 


ANDERSONVILLE.  43 


CHAPTER  IY. 

Change  of  Administration. — Appointment  of  Winder. — His  Antecedents. 
— Fitness  for  the  Place. — His  Staff. — Son. — Nephew. 

TOWARD  the  end  of  the  month  of  March,  1864,  it  was 
rumored  that  a  change  in  the  command  of  the  post  at 
Andersonville  was  to  be  made,  and  the  name  of  John  II. 
Winder,  a  brigadier  general  in  the  Confederate  army,  was 
associated  with  the  report. 

As  over  some  bright  plain,  when  the  sun  is  passing 
downward  in  his  western  course,  the  shadow  of  a  mount 
ain  is  visibly  projected — the  precursor  of  its  antitype, 
which  holds  darkness  and  desolation  in  its  hand — so  be 
fore  his  actual  advent  the  shadow  of  his  influence  was 
cast  from  the  extreme  limits  of  the  Confederacy,  a  spectre 
menacing  a  sterner  rule  and  a  fiercer  despotism,  and  more 
undreamed  of  death  than  any  which  mere  physical  agen 
cies  could  ever  compass. 

His  coming  was  heralded  to  the  Southwest  by  the 
"Richmond  Examiner"  in  these  words: 

"THANK  GOD  THAT  RICHMOND  is  AT  LAST  RID  OF 
OLD  WINDER  !  GOD  HAVE  MERCY  UPON  THOSE  TO 
WHOM  HE  HAS  BEEN  SENT!" 

With  such  a  harbinger  from  the  last  theatre  of  his 
service,  it  did  not  require  a  great  amount  of  foresight  to 
appreciate  the  full  value  of  the  acquisition.  He  made 
his  appearance  on  the  10th  day  of  April  as  commander 


•M  ANDERSONVILLE. 

of  the  post  at  Anderson ville,  and  of  the  county  of  Sum- 
ter,  in  which  it  was  situated. 

The  change  thus  effected  was  due  to  several  causes,  not 
the  least  notorious  of  which  was  the  fact  that  Winder  had 
made  himself  so  obnoxious  at  Kichmond,  where,  in  his 
capacity  of  provost  marshal  and  Superintendent  of  Mili 
tary  Prisons,  he  had  transgressed  and  trampled  down 
every  law,  usurped  all  the  authority  of  his  office,  and 
violated  every  principle  of  official  decorum. 

For  these  acts  he  was  repeatedly  complained  of  and 
reported  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  But  he  was  the  per 
sonal  friend  and  willing  tool  of  Jefferson  Davis,  by  whom 
he  had  been  appointed  to  office  and  commissioned,  and 
a  pliant  servant,  whose  constant  access  to  his  master's 
presence  permitted  him  to  drop  his  crafty  insinuations 
like  pebbles  into  his  restless  soul,  and  heap  up  the  wa 
ters  of  bitterness  to  their  overflow ;  so  he  held  over  his 
protege  his  protecting  hand.  He  was  too  valuable  an 
auxiliary  to  be  dispensed  with  for  venial  offenses  only, 
and  his  services  could  not  remain  entirely  unemployed. 

Another  and  more  potent  reason  for  giving  him  the 
appointment  was,  that  Winder's  own  solicitations  effected 
what  sheer  necessity  would  have  required.  He  sought  a 
sphere  of  action  where,  unrestrained  by  official  inquisi- 
tiveness  or  supervision,  he  could  indulge  his  rapacity  in 
reaping  such  pecuniary  harvests  as  a  position  like  this 
would  afford  him. 

He  had  left  his  native  state  of  Maryland,  and  sought 
to  better  a  fortune  which  was  always  bad  by  mixing  him 
self  with  the  excitement  that  the  rebellion  had  occasion 
ed.  Never  possessing  either  means  or  position  at  home, 


ANDERSONVILLE.  45 

he  thought  to  secure  both  by  linking  his  fate  with  trea 
son.  A  field  so  promising  in  its  yield,  and  so  removed 
from  officious  interference  as  Andersonville,  did  not  es 
cape  his  avaricious  eye,  and  the  place  was  bestowed 
upon  him. 

An  examination  of  records  shows  that  his  early  edu 
cation  was  not  deficient  in  these  acquirements,  which  go 
very  far  to  aid  in  throwing  off  the  restraint  which  law 
and  a  respect  for  its  behests  demand.  In  the  year  1818, 
John  II.  Winder  was  a  cadet  of  the  United  States  Milita 
ry  Academy  at  West  Point,  and  while  there  was  engaged 
in  a  meeting  and  joining  in  a  combination  against  his 
superior  officers.  He  was  then  barely  twenty-one  years 
of  age,  and  nothing  but  the  extreme  construction  ap 
plied  to  his  offense  by  John  C.  Calhoun,  then  Secretary 
of  War,  saved  him  from  the  punishment  due  to  such 
misdeeds. 

Thus  early  did  he  display  that  disregard  of  necessary 
authority  which  became  so  marked  a  characteristic  of 
his  subsequent  and  notorious  career.  The  curious  in 
such  matters  will  find  all  of  the  details  of  the  case  above 
referred  to  in  "Documents,  Legislative  and  Executive, 
Class  V.,  Military  Affairs,  vol.  ii.,"  published  by  the  au 
thority  of  Congress.  Contemporary  accounts  assign  to 
him  a  conspicuous  position  in  the  memorable  riots  at 
Baltimore,  in  which  the  same  disposition  to  override  law 
and  trample  upon  human  rights  was  pre-eminently  mani 
fest  under  the  title  of  a  "  Plug-Ugly."  Such  seed,  plant 
ed  and  nourished  in  boyhood,  growing  up  into  prolific 
bearing  in  middle  age,  bore  its  expectant  fruit  at  seventy 
years  of  his  life,  at  Andersonville,  in  1864 ;  for  future  his- 


46  ANDERSONVILLE. 

tory  must  identify  him  with  the  whole  infamous  machin 
ery  of  persecution,  starvation,  and  death,  which  he  either 
originated  there,  or  made  warmly  his  own. 

That  the  power  which  appointed  him  to  office  must, 
from  the  very  nature  of  things,  have  been  advised  of  the 
antecedents  of  the  man,  can  not  be  denied.  The  well- 
known  scrutiny  which  Jefferson  Davis  exercised  in  all 
of  his  selections — the  fact  that  Winder  received  his  com 
mission  as  a  brigadier  general  in  the  Confederate  Army 
at  an  early  period  of  the  war ;  that  he  never  was  intrust 
ed  with  a  command  in  the  field  at  any  time  during  the 
rebellion ;  the  extreme  difficulty  of  obtaining  high  ap 
pointments  from  the  President,  all  go  to  demonstrate  the 
fact  that  he  was  supplied  with  rank,  without  a  command, 
from  his  peculiar  fitness  for  the  work  to  be  required  of 
him.  It  is  well  known  that  he  did  not  disappoint  his 
master  in  the  execution  of  the  duties  assigned  to  him, 
and  it  is  doubtful  if,  within  the  limits  of  the  so-called 
Confederacy,  another  man  could  be  found  so  well  fitted 
for  the  performance  of  the  mission  to  which  he  was  des 
tined. 

With  an  exterior  and  countenance  repulsive  by  super 
annuation,  and  unsoftened  by  that  suavity  or  courtesy 
of  manner  that  marks  the  comity  of  a  gentleman ;  with 
a  roughness  of  demeanor  and  a  rudeness  of  speech  that 
bespoke  the  bear  instead  of  the  officer,  his  presence  shed 
around  him  an  air  of  ungracious  churlishness,  that  re 
pelled  the  intimacy  which  his  position  ought  to  have  in 
vited.  Unpolished  and  uncivil  in  his  manners,  his  speech 
was,  if  possible,  more  ill  bred.  The  vocabulary  of  invec 
tive  might  have  been  searched  in  vain  for  a  novelty  in 


ANDERSONVILLE.  47 

imprecation  which  was  not  familiar  to  his  lips ;  and,  as 
the  oaths  rolled  from  his  tongue  in  the  most  ordinary 
conversation,  a  listener  could  well  be  excused  for  the 
manifestation  of  astonishment  at  the  fertility  of  the  gen 
eral's  language,  and  the  varied  plenitude  of  his  maledic 
tions. 

This  is  no  overdrawn  picture  of  Winder ;  and  if  the 
shadows  arc  dark,  and  the  oscuro  of  his  character  is  un 
relieved  by  a  single  line  of  light,  to  him,  not  to  his  paint 
er's  charge,  be  laid  the  defect.  And  yet  this  person,  so 
marked  amid  thousands,  and  so  characterized  by  the  spe 
cial  traits  that  shone  around  him,  was  courted  and  idol 
ized  by  the  men  and  women  of  the  country  most  conspic 
uous  for  their  secession  proclivities  and  their  hate  of  the 
Union.  To  such  a  degree  was  this  hero-worship  carried, 
that  the  sacredness  of  a  high  office  in  the  Church  was 
polluted  by  electing  him  to  its  functions. 

In  the  choice  for  wardens  and  vestrymen  of  a  newly- 
organized  congregation  at  Americus,  the  priest,  wrho  con 
trolled  the  election,  forced  him  upon  the  members  as  one 
of  the  wardens,  observing  from  the  altar  that  he  had 
seen  him  partake  of  the  Holy  Eucharist  in  an  Episcopal 
church  at  Eichmond. 

The  author  of  this  successful  attempt  to  link  an  emis 
sary  of  evil  with  a  holy  cause — Staley  is  his  name — has 
lived  long  enough  to  see  his  efforts  crowned  with  entire 
triumph ;  for  by  this  act  he  blasted  the  prospects  of  a 
rising  congregation  by  thus  forcing  a  reprobate  into  their 
vestry. 

I  have  been  thus  particular  in  the  exposition  of  this 
man's  attributes,  for  to  him  will  be  traced  all  of  the  hor- 


48  ANDERSONVILLE. 

rors  that  this  Narrative  will  recite.  It  has  been  consid 
ered  necessary  that  those  who  favor  this  work  with  a 
perusal  may  learn  who  the  agent  was,  and  who  was  the 
principal  in  the  nefarious  outrages  that  will  always  mark 
this  spot  as  one  excepted  in  all  the  annals  of  human 
atrocity,  pre-eminently  superior  for  its  unmitigated  cruel 
ty  and  the  deaths  that  resulted,  and  for  the  woes  endured 
by  the  tens  of  thousands  of  brave  men  who  suffered  un 
der  the  devilish  grasp  of  this  arch-fiend  of  prisons,  John 
H.  Winder. 

With  him  came  his  son,  W.  S.  Winder,  who  was  in 
stalled  as  adjutant  of  the  post;  his  nephew,  Eichard  B. 
Winder,  the  quarter  -  master  and  commissary ;  HENRY 
WlRZ,  "  Superintendent  of  the  Confederate  States  Military 
Prison  at  Andersonvilk"  the  future  jailer  and  executioner 
of  his  orders  in  regard  to  the  prisoners ;  Dr.  White,  as 
surgeon-in-chief,  and  who  afterward  had  the  management 
of  the  hospitals ;  James  W.  Duncan,  of  New  Orleans,  and 
W.  J.  Humes,  of  Baltimore,  who  were  selected  as  the  ex 
aminers  of  boxes,  clothing,  and  pockets  of  the  prisoners 
as  they  arrived,  together  with  three  police  detectives, 
taken  from  the  Richmond  experts,  to  spy  out  and  report 
to  him  the  utterances  and  shortcomings  of  the  people  of 
the  country.  The  services  of  these  latter  were  in  con 
stant  requisition,  and  they  proved  efficient  aids. 

As  adjutant  of  the  post,  his  son,  or  Sid  Winder,  as  ho 
was  generally  called,  had  charge  of  the  execution  of  the 
details  and  military  orders  which  applied  to  the  troops 
on  duty  there  as  guards  to  the  prisoners,  keeping  the  rec 
ords  of  the  post,  and  the  performance  of  such  other  duties 
as  is  required  by  military  usage  and  discipline.  In  ad- 


ANDERSONVILLE.  49 

dition  to  this,  the  provost  marshal  was  under  his  orders, 
and  received  his  instructions  from  him.  This  officer, 
whose  name  was  Eeid,  a  lieutenant  in  the  army,  a  youth 
of  about  twenty- two  years  of  age,  and  a  supple  tool  in 
the  hands  of  his  superiors,  may  be  mentioned  and  drop 
ped  here  at  the  same  time,  as  undeserving  even  such  a 
notice  as  his  compeers  must  receive. 

The  adjutant  was  the  second  man  in  authority,  because 
his  relationship  with  the  commandant  secured  him  an  in 
fluence  which  his  position  and  rank  could  not  have  given 
him ;  he  was  the  mouthpiece,  legally  as  well  as  naturally, 
of  his  father.  Sid  "Winder,  who  established  and  super 
vised  the  erection  of  the  prison  in  1863,  was  about  thirty- 
five  years  of  age,  rather  below  the  ordinary  size  in  stat 
ure,  of  no  prepossessing  appearance,  and  in  many  charac 
teristics  resembling  his  sire. 

Eichard  B.  Winder,  as  quarter-master  and  commissary, 
held  the  next  important  position  of  any  other,  in  so  far 
as  the  opportunities  for  gain  were  offered.  Through  his 
hands  all  of  the  supplies  passed,  the  clothing  for  troops 
and  the  money  ;  with  him  was  the  selection  and  appoint 
ment  of  the  sutlers  of  the  post — indeed,  the  charge  of 
every  thing  that  related  to  the  provisions  of  the  troops 
stationed  there  and  the  prisoners.  To  him,  therefore, 
must  we  look  for  those  deficiencies  in  food  which  will  be 
hereafter  shown  to  have  been  one  of  the  chief  causes  of 
suffering  and  death  among  the  unfortunate  men  confined 
there. 

It  vjas  notorious  that  he  shared  a  partnership  with  the 
sutler  of  the  post  and  the  sutler  of  the  prison,  and  divided 
with  them  the  proceeds  of  their  gains.  He  fixed  the 

C 


50  ANDERSONVILLE. 

prices  of  all  produce,  such  as  butter,  eggs,  meat,  poultry, 
vegetables,  every  thing  that  the  people  of  the  country 
brought  there  to  sell.  He  did  more — he  allowed  no  one 
to  purchase  what  was  thus  offered  until  his  sutlers  had 
obtained  all  that  they  required ;  this  was,  most  generally, 
all  that  was  brought  to  be  sold.  He  did  not  fix  prices 
that  should  be  charged  upon  these  articles  by  the  sutlers ; 
that  was  left  to  their  discretion,  to  the  demand  and  sup 
ply,  and  to  the  value  of  Confederate  money  at  the  time. 
Butter,  for  instance,  could  not  be  charged  more  than  twen 
ty-five  cents  per  pound,  Confederate  currency,  by  the 
market-women  who  brought  it  there ;  it  was  sold  by  the 
sutlers  at  one  dollar  and  a  half. 

The  yield  from  this  harvest  was  greatest  within  the 
stockade.  There  the  first  requirement  was  for  greenbacks, 
provided  the  poor  prisoners'  pockets  had  escaped  exam 
ination  and  robbery  before  they  passed  within  the  gates. 
The  same  article  of  butter,  for  which  his  partners  paid 
twenty-five  cents  in  Confederate  money,  was  sold  to  a 
prisoner  for  one  dollar  in  greenbacks.  At  this  time  the 
difference  in  value  was  as  twenty  to  one ;  so,  what  cost 
twenty-five  cents  in  worthless  paper,  was  sold  for  twenty 
times  as  much  in  United  States  currency  to  starving  pris 
oners  of  war.  Collards  as  they  are  called  in  Georgia — 
colewort,  a  species  of  cabbage  not  maturing  to  a  head,  a 
coarse  kind  of  greens  in  general  use  at  the  South,  were 
put  down  in  Quarter-master  Winder's  tariff  at  ten  cents 
per  bunch  of  three  stalks ;  inside  the  prison  fifty  cents  in 
Federal  money  was  demanded,  or  one  dollar  and  a  half 
in  the  currency  of  the  country.  It  does  not  require  great 
financial  astuteness  to  estimate  the  profits  upon  such  trans- 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  51 

actions.  All  kinds  of  produce  raised  in  the  country  was 
thus  estimated  and  sold. 

At  this  period  there  was  a  law  passed  by  the  Confed 
erate  Congress  prohibiting,  under  heavy  penalties,  the 
sale,  purchase,  or  traffic  in  United  States  money,  or  na 
tional  currency,  "  except  in  cases  specially  authorized  by  the 
President}'1  It  was  made  a  test  of  loyalty  to  buy  or  sell, 
and  it  was  denounced  as  treason  against  the  government, 
to  be  punished  by  severe  penalties ;  yet  into  the  hands 
of  E.  B.  Winder  &  Co.  flowed  thousands  of  this  traitorous, 
money,  and,  being  ostracized  by  law  and  so  rendered 
worthless,  their  losses  must  necessarily  have  been  great. 
But  the  reader  need  not  prepare  his  sympathies  for  this 
patriotic  firm — he  need  not  commence  an  estimate  and 
foot  up  the  ruin  that  a  loyal  quarter-master  must  have 
suffered  from  such  transactions!  He  and  his  partners 
had  a  very  simple  scheme  by  which  to  save  themselves 
from  bankruptcy,  and  his  incorruptible  uncle,  the  gen 
eral,  from  shame  at  the  result  of  their  financiering.  They 
sold  the  odious  greenbacks  to  those  who  knew  their  value 
for  what  their  market  price  demanded,  and  by  these  two 
operations  cleared  about  one  thousand  per  cent,  upon 
their  labors. 

If  any  unfortunate  purchaser  of  the  prohibited  curren 
cy  was  suspected  of  using  it  for  remittance  to  the  North, 
to  pay  his  debts  contracted  before  the  war,  the  same  men 
who  had  sold  him  the  funds,  and  who  had  received  their 
pay  for  them,  would  enter  a  complaint  in  form  before  a 
justice  of  the  Superior  Court  of  the  county,  who  resided 
conveniently  near  the  post,  and  the  unlucky  operator  was 
arrested  under  the  law,  torn  from  his  family,  and  turned 


52  ANDERSONVILLE. 

over  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  provost  marshal,  and 
by  him  imprisoned  until  the  importunities,  the  security, 
or  the  money  of  friends  could  release  him  from  his  con 
finement. 

Cases  like  this  were  of  daily  occurrence ;  and  if  the 
business  became  dull,  the  detectives  that  General  Winder 
brought  out  with  him  were  set  to  work,  and  some  igno 
rant  subject  was  inveigled  into  the  snare  which  was  art 
fully  contrived  for  him,  and,  while  engaged  in  a  bargain 
for  the  denounced  money,  would  be  arrested  and  marched 
off  for  punishment,  by  being  mulcted  in  black  mail,  or 
confinement  until  the  next  grand  jury  of  the  county  met 
to  investigate  his  case,  and  probably  indict  him.  If  he 
proved  to  be  made  of  pliable  stuff,  and  sought  to  escape 
farther  annoyance,  he  compromised  the  matter  with  W. 
S.  "Winder,  the  adjutant,  by  paying  him  a  round  sum,  be 
sides  forfeiting  into  his  lenient  hands  the  greenbacks 
which  he  had  obtained  from  his  cousin ;  but  if  the  ac 
cused  was  obstinate,  he  was  at  once  arrested  by  a  warrant 
granted  by  the  convenient  justice  above  referred  to,  and, 
under  heavy  bonds,  awaited  the  issue  of  his  trial. 

•  The  records  of  the  court  of  Sumter  County  yet  exhibit 
numerous  indictments  which  were  found  for  violating 
this  law  of  the  Confederacy,  when  the  defendants  had 
proved  too  contumacious  for  the  manipulations  of  the  ad- 
jutant. 

One  case  may  be  cited  as  an  instance  and  proof  of  all 
others.  An  Israelite,  not  entirely  "  without  guile"  on  the 
question  of  good  money,  was  approached  by  one  of  these 
detective  harpies  of  General  Winder's,  and  induced  to  go 
up  to  Andersonville,  where  the  victim  was  told  in  great 


ANDERSONVILLE.  53 

confidence  that  he  could  purchase  any  quantity  of  the 
coveted  greenbacks  from  the  sutler.  Arrived  there,  they 
entered  the  store,  the  door  was  closed  and  locked,  and 
the  transaction  began.  Twenty-five  for  one  was  asked 
and  given ;  the  national  currency  safely  deposited  in  the 
purchaser's  pocket,  the  loyal  money  placed  in  the  sutler's 
till.  Just  at  this  critical  moment  a  signal  cough  was 
given,  a  body  was  projected  through  an  open  window, 
the  Jew  was  in  the  grasp  of  a  detective,  and  was  marched 
off  to  the  provost  marshal's,  and  by  him  sent  to  the  guard 
house.  For  three  days  the  prisoner  suffered  durance, 
when  he  at  last  succeeded  in  gaining  an  interview  with 
Adjutant  Winder.  The  result  of  the  conference  was 
that  he  gained  his  liberty,  but  he  paid  into  that  officer's 
hands  the  three  thousand  dollars  of  disloyal  money  which 
he  had  purchased  from  E.  B.  Winder's  sutler,  with  two 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars  of  Confederate  currency  in 
addition,  and  then  went  his  way  to  his  home,  a  poorer 
but  certainly  a  wiser  man.  He  had  been  taught  a  lesson 
in  cent,  per  cent,  by  a  Gentile  which  excited  his  wonder, 
if  it  did  not  arouse  his  envy  at  the  skill  displayed.  That 
this  and  similar  transactions  were  "specially  authorized  by 
the  President"  the  author  is  not  informed. 

The  stern  integrity  of  General  Winder  was  carried  to 
such  an  extent  that  any  person  who  fell  under  his  sus 
picions  as  dealing  in  the  contraband  currency  wras  ex 
posed  to  the  whole  fury  of  his  amiable  wrath.  One  gen 
tleman  of  high  social  position  at  Americus,  esteemed  for 
his  moral  worth  and  business  character,  but  who  labored 
under  the  misfortune  of  having  been  born  north  of  Ma 
son  and  Dixon's  line,  although  he  had  resided  for  many 


54  ANDERSONVILLE. 

years  at  the  South,  visited  the  stockade  one  day  to  satis 
fy  himself  of  the  reports  in  relation  to  the  treatment  of 
the  prisoners.  He  was  met  by  the  general  with  an  ex 
pressive  objurgation  and  query  of  what  he  was  doing 
there.  The  gentleman  mildly  replied,  and  told  him  his 
reasons  for  visiting  the  place  —  mildness  of  manner  and 
the  extremest  courtesy  of  speech  was  a  characteristic 
with  him.  He  was  informed,  with  a  battery  of  oaths, 
that  he  was  not  only  a  d — d  Yankee,  but  that  he  was 
suspected  of  dealing  in  greenbacks ;  that  he  had  better 
look  out;  and,  with  an  oath  that  fairly  made  his  hair 
stand  on  end,  was  ordered  to  depart  the  charmed  pre 
cincts. 

These  details  are  considered  necessary,  as  having  an 
important  bearing  upon,  and  connection  with,  this  Nar 
rative  of  the  Andersonville  Prison.  They  show  the  out 
er  life  and  practices  of  those  assigned  to  duty  there  as 
important  officers  and  high  in  the  confidence  of  the  Con 
federate  authorities,  and  they  are  regarded  as  links  in 
the  chain  which  bound,  and  ground,  and  cankered  the 
life  and  flesh  of  those  incarcerated  there.  It  is  supposed 
that  a  better  insight  into  the  characters  of  those  intrusted 
with  such  great  interests  will  be  thus  given  than  by  mere 
statements.  They  are  parts  and  parcels  of  the  stupen 
dous  fraud  and  wrong  which  culminates  in  the  person 
of  the  jailer  of  the  prison,  HENRY  WIRZ. 


AXDERSONVILLE.  55 


CHAPTER  Y. 

Wirz  the  Jailer. — His  early  History. — Residence  in  America. — His  Char 
acter. — Duties  as  Jailer. — New  Orders. — The  Dead  Line. — Stringent 
Regulations. 

THIS  individual,  since  become  so  fearfully  notorious  as 
one  of  the  principals  who  dealt  out  with  an  unsparing 
hand  all  of  the  horrors  of  disease,  pollution,  and  death  to 
captives  of  war,  was  a  native  of  Switzerland.  lie  was 
born  at  Zurich  in  the  year  1822,  and  emigrated  to  Amer 
ica  in  18-i9.  When  he  landed  in  the  United  States  to 
seek  a  home  among  its  citizens  and  protection  under  its 
laws,  he  was  unable  to  speak  a  word  of  our  language,  but, 
having  some  knowledge  of  woolen  manufactures,  he  ob 
tained  employment  in  a  shawl  factory  in  Lawrence,  Mas 
sachusetts.  Here  he  remained  for  some  years,  when  he 
emigrated  to  Louisville,  Kentucky,  and  became  a  clerk  or 
attendant  to  a  homoeopathic  physician,  where  he  acquired 
the  information  upon  which  he  subsequently  practiced. 
From  Kentucky  he  removed  to  Louisiana,  and  com 
menced  his  career  as  a  physician,  offering  his  service^Ad. 
the  plantations  of  the  section  where  he  located.  there 

"When  the  war  broke  out  he  became  a  violent  pare  at- 
of  the  rebel  cause,  and  first  turned  up  as  a  clerk  of  t^e. 
Libby  Prison  at  Richmond.  Here  his  acquaintance  with 
John  H.  Winder  first  began,  and  through  him  he  obtain 
ed  his  commission  as  captain,  and  was  placed  on  his  staff 


56  ANDERSONVILLE. 

as  assistant  adjutant  general.  As  a  deputy  provost  mar 
shal,  he  was  sent  on  an  inspecting  tour  in  the  year  1862- 
3  of  the  prisons  and  prisoners  throughout  the  South.  In 
the  summer  of  the  latter  year  he  was  deputed  by  Jeffer 
son  Davis,  at  the  instigation  of  Winder,  to  carry  secret 
.dispatches  to  the  rebel  commissioners, Mason  in  England, 
and  Slidell  in  France,  and  to  the  financial  agents  of  the 
Confederate  government  in  Europe.  He  returned  in  Jan 
uary,  1864,  and  soon  after,  in  the  train  of  his  benefactor 
Winder,  he  came  to  Andersonville  with  him,  and  was 
placed  in  immediate  charge  of  the  prisoners  there  con 
fined  as  "Superintendent  of  the  Confederate  States  Mili 
tary  Prison  at  Andersonville." 

The  appearance  and  physiognomy  of  Wirz  was  neither 
attractive  or  interesting  save  by  its  repulsiveness.  In 
height  he  was  five  feet  eight  inches,  with  a  slender  weaz 
ened  form,  stooping  shoulders,  and  emasculated  gait.  His 
features  were  pinched  and  disagreeable,  rendered  more 
unpleasing  by  a  light  gray  eye,  surmounted  by  a  heavy 
protruding  brow,  restless,  unfixed,  and  incapable  of  a 
rnanly,  self-sustained  look  at  the  person  with  whom  he 
happened  at  the  time  to  be  conversing.  His  low,  retreat 
ing  forehead,  with  head  of  small  size,  displayed  a  greater 
amount  of  animal  than  intellectual  nature,  and  was  a  fit- 

**»•«•  apex  to  one  destined  hereafter  to  become  so  noto- 
ofth 

>  Wirz,  as  superintendent,  was  committed  the  entire 
_targe  of  the  stockade  and  its  inmates.     His  reports, 
whenever  they  were  made,  were  always  to  General  Win 
der,  without  passing  through  the  hands  or  office  of  the 
adjutant,  while  his  orders  were  sent  direct  to  him,  with- 


ANDERSONV1LLE.  57 

out  the  interposition  of  any  other  officer.  Between  Gen 
eral  Winder  and  Wirz  there  was  always  the  most  cordial 
understanding ;  and  while  there  were  bickerings  and  re 
proaches  that  marked  the  intercourse  of  the  commanding 
officer  and  his  son,  the  adjutant,  a  contrast  was  exhibited 
in  the  steady,  unruffled  flow  of  official  relations  between 
these  two. 

His  assumption  of  duty  was  marked  by  a  radical  change 
in  the  guarding,  feeding,  and  treatment  of  the  prisoners 
under  his  charge,  and  a  corresponding  change  for  the 
worse  in  their  condition.  Worse,  for  there  was  a  degree 
in  human  suffering  and  human  misery  yet  lower  than 
they  had  reached  that  his  keen  appreciation  had  marked 
out  for  them. 

To  the  reader,  sitting,  it  may  be,  surrounded  by  the 
comforts  and  conveniences  of  civilized  life,  the  idea  of 
grades  in  human  wretchedness,  where  it  was  already  re 
duced  to  a  grossness  that  was  merged  into  bestial,  is  not 
probably  intelligible.  When  told  that  men  bred  to  the 
comprehension  and  enjoyment  of  the  same  comforts  as 
themselves,  and  who  had  proved  their  manhood  amid  the 
roar  and  carnage  of  battle-fields,  were  penned  up  within 
an  open  inclosure,  exposed  to  the  varying  elements,  with 
out  shelter,  save  such  as  burrows  and  holes  in  the  ground 
could  afford,  and  with  filthy,  noisome  water  to  drink,  and 
insufficient  food  to  eat,  it  may  not  be  conceived  that  there 
was  a  lower  degree  still  of  human  misery  yet  to  be  at 
tained — that  the  lowest  had  not  been  reached  in  the  scale. 
Such  must  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  there  were 
within  the  means  of  Wirz  a  compass  so  immeasurably 
below  their  conceptions  that  the  index  on  the  scale  of 

C2 


58  ANDEESONVILLE. 

comfortless  torture  could  vibrate  without  a  check  while 
the  fertile  brain  of  the  new  jailer  could  invent  plans  to 
chafe  the  suffering  or  madden  the  disconsolate  wretches 
there. 

The  first  invention  of  his  genius  was  the  erection  of 
the  dead  line.  Before  his  advent,  the  prisoners  had  been 
permitted  access  tojthe  sides  of  the  stockade  to  converse 
with  those  visitors  whom  curiosity  or  business  brought 
to  the  outside.  In  order  to  prevent  this  practice,  posts 
three  feet  high  were  planted  ten  feet  apart,  and  thirty  feet 
within  and  from  the  stockade,  upon  which  was  pinned 
a  railing  extending  all  around  the  inclosure.  Notifica 
tion  was  given  the  prisoners  by  Wirz_himself  that  no 
one  should  pass  beyond  this  barrier  under  pain  of  in 
stantaneous  death  to  him  who  should  transgress.  The 
sentinels  upon  the  exterior  platform  were  imperatively 
ordered,  each  time  the  relief  was  placed  on  duty,  to  be 
vigilant  in  detecting  and  shooting,  without  warning,  the 
unlucky  violator  of  this  line  of  life  and  death.  It  was 
not  necessary  to  call  forth  the  murderous  bullet  that  the 
entire  person  should  be  exposed  or  beyond  the  assigned 
limits.  The  protrusion  of  an  arm  to  dip  up  water  from 
Borne  spot  more  undefiled  than  another,  the  reaching  un 
der  to  snatch  a  worthless  rag  which  a  breeze  had  borne 
beyond  the  reach  of  its  proprietor,  or  the  half-exposed 
body  of  a  prisoner  whom  a  struggle  with  his  mates  had 
forced  out  of  the  prescribed  limits,  were  enough  to  secure 
the  shot  of  the  sentinel  and  the  death  of  the  transgressor. 

With  grim  cunning,  he  had  so  placed  the  railing  that 
a  portion  of  it  crossed  or  intruded  upon  the  little  stream 
which  entered  from  one  side  and  furnished  water  for  the 


ANDERSONVILLE.  59 

prisoners.  And  this  point  was  where  the  water  was 
deeper  and  purer  than  at  any  other  part  of  its  course, 
and  necessarily  more  inviting  to  the  thirsty  palates  who 
hankered  for  it.  To  reach  this  water  the  dead  line  must 
be  obtruded  on — to  do  this  was  death. 

In  the  almost  torrid  heats  of  a  Southern  summer,  with 
a  sun  pouring  down  his  burning  rays  that  literally  blis 
tered  the  skin  exposed  to  them,  with  a  foul  and  putrid 
stream  of  water  to  supply  the  demands  of  a  thirst  that 
could  not  be  assuaged,  but  almost  maddened  the  martyr 
to  its  torments,  there  was  reserved  one  spot  less  noisome 
than  any  other,  and  whose  tempting  waters  beckoned  to 
their  enjoyment.  But  the  malignity  of  Wirz  had  inter 
dicted  that  spot  by  death  !  The  sufferings  of  Tantalus 
were  real  enjoyments  compared  with  what  these  prison 
ers  endured,  for  he  was  cooled  by  the  flowing  tide  even 
to  his  throat,  but  they  burned  to  their  vdtals  with  con 
suming  thirst,  and  their  parched  bodies  were  uncomfort- 
ed  by  even  a  dip  into  the  coveted  element. 

At  this  fated  spot  the  ghosts  of  many  poor  fellows  went 
shrieking  their  death-gasp  away  over  those  filthy  waters 
as  their  emaciated  forms  sought  a  temporary  refreshment 
nearer  to  their  source. 

The  illustration  conveys  but  a  meagre  idea  of  the 
temptation  offered,  or  of  the  heartless  penalty  affixed  for 
him  who  should  risk  its  acceptance. 

It  is  the  proper  place  here  to  state  that  all  of  the  dis 
positions  made  for  the  guarding  and  safe-keeping  of  the 
prisoners,  the  amount  and  kind  of  rations  issued  to  them 
— every  thing,  indeed,  which  concerned  those  within  the 
stockade,  emanated  from  Henry  Wirz,  who  was  responsi- 


60  ANDERSONVILLE. 

ble  to  his  superior  officer  for  them.  The  reader  is  re 
quested  to  bear  this  in  rnind.  Winder  was  chief  of  the 
post  of  Andersonville.  To  his  subordinates  was  allotted 
their  respective  duties,  under  the  general  instructions  al 
ways  issued  and  usually  understood  by  military  men. 
To  the  subordinates  of  this  post  the  same  orders  were 
given,  and  it  was  understood  that  they  would  not  be  held 
responsible  for  any  dereliction,  provided  only  that  they 
kept  themselves  within  a  liberal  construction  of  very  in 
definite  rules,  but,  above  all,  that  they  "looked  upon  the 
Yankees  like  so  many  d — d  Wahoes."* 

But -to  Wirz  special  orders  were  given,  and  posted  in 
writing  at  the  gates  of  the  prison  and  at  the  office  of  the 
provost  marshal.  They  are  as  follows: 


"  Orders  No.  9.- 

Head-quarters,  Confederate  Military  Prison, ") 


Andersonville,  April  12, 1864. 

"  Captain  Henry  Wirz  is  assigned  to  the  superintend 
ence  and  management  of  the  prisoners  at  this  post,  and 
will  take  charge  of  their  custody. 

"  Supplies  for  their  maintenance  will  be  issued  only 
upon  his  requisition  and  under  his  orders.  Passes  to 
visit  the  stockade  will  be  granted  by  him  alone,  and  all 
arrangements  connected  with  its  interior  will  be  control 
led  by  him. 

"Captain  Wirz  will  report  directly  to  these  head-quar 
ters.  By  order  of 

"  JOHN  H.  WINDER,  Brigadier  General. 

"  W.  S.  WINDER,  Assistant  Adjutant  General." 

*  Winder's  verbal  orders  to  Wirz,  April  15. 


ANDERSONVILLE.  61 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  the  entire  control  of  the 
prisoners  was  devolved  upon  Wirz,  reporting  only  and 
directly  to  the  general  in  command.  It  may  be  asked 
by  those  more  conversant  with  military  affairs  than  the 
author  pretends  to  be,  why  such  unlimited  powers  were 
granted  to  one  man  by  him  who  was  appointed  to  the 
duty  by  his  superiors.  The  question  can  be  answered 
but  by  assigning  as  a  reason  the  results  that  flowed  from 
thus  transferring  authority.  It  may  be  that  age,  which 
was  telling  with  unmistakable  marks  upon  the  form  of 
the  superior,  was  willing  to  delegate  cruelty  and  murder 
to  a  ripe  maturity  which  could  compass  both ;  or,  per 
haps,  the  cunning  that  a  nearer  view  of  his  grave  in 
duced  wished  to  shift  a  responsibility  he  was  unable  to 
bear.  It  may  be  that  ulterior  views  of  profit  in  the  ad 
ministration  of  his  cdmmandery  led  him  to  think  that 
his  time  would  ^'required  in  looking  after  his  personal 
interests,  and  in  hoarding  the  rich  harvests  which  son 
and  nephew  would  reap  from  such  a  well-cultivated  field. 

Whatever  the  intention  may  have  been,  it  is  certain 
that  one  portion  of  his  power  was  delegated,  and  his 
mind  was  freed  from  the  care  which  its  duties  involved, 
and  left  to  riot  in  such  forms  as  he  chose  to  assume. 

In  any  event,  the  management  and  control  —  the  life 
and  death  of  the  Federal  prisoners  at  Andersonville  were 
committed  to  their  superintendent  and  manager,  Henry 
"Wirz,  who  acquitted  himself  of  his  delicate  charge  as  be 
came  the  new  instances  that  have  been  given,  and  which 
marked  his  iron  reign.  It  is  not  out  of  place  to  say  here 
that  Wirz  often  asserted,  during  his  supremacy,  that  he 
alone  was  responsible  for  the  management  of  the  prison- 


62  ANDERSONVILLE. 

ers,  and  if  any  blame  attached  he  was  willing  to  bear 
the  brunt  of  it. 

He  did  bear  the  brunt,  alas !  but  in  a  different  form 
from  what,  in  his  assumed  safety,  he  had  boasted.  His 
ghost  and  the  spirit  of  his  general  have  doubtless  com 
mingled  ere  now  in  other  spheres,  and  it  is  not  unfair  to 
suppose  that,  if  disembodied  essences  can  feel  the  poign 
ancy  that  tortures  a  mortal,  repentant  tears  have  been 
shed  by  the  twain  enough  to  wash  from  their  souls  the 
blood  of  more  than  ten  thousand  starving  victims. 


ANDERSONVILLE.  63 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Increase  of  Prisoners. — Their  Condition. — The  Hospitals. — Precautions 
for  Guarding. — Winder's  Disposition  of  Artillery  to  rake  the  Stockade. 
— Stoneman's  Raiders. — Their  Robbery  and  Destitution. 

THE  month  of  May  has  now  arrived — a  month  which 
in  this  latitude  is  especially  trying  upon  those  who  are 
unaccustomed  to  its  peculiarly  enervating  influences,  and 
where  the  mean  of  the  thermometer  is  80°  in  the  shade. 
The  eastern  winds  come  laden  with  their  burden  of  lan 
guor,  relaxing  the  energies,  debilitating  the  strength,  and 
blunting  the  edge  of  effort  even  to  those  accustomed  to 
their  effects.  The  sun,  gathering  renewed  power  after  his 
hibernal  impotence,  pours  down  his  rays,  and  forces  into 
premature  being  the  buried  seeds  of  life  and  death.  The 
germs  of  disease,  which  have  lurked  unregarded,  perhaps 
unsuspected  in  the  human  system,  are  quickened  into  a 
fatal  growth,  and  in  this  season  of  almost  spontaneous  de 
velopment  they  sprout  with  a  rapidity  unknown  in  high 
er  latitudes. 

The  prisoners  felt  the  sickening  influences,  and,  yield 
ing  to  their  empire,  drooping  under  their  grasp,  they  be 
gan  to  surrender  and  die.  And  now,  for  the  first  time 
since  the  organization  of  the  prison,  a  hospital  was  organ 
ized.  This  term  is  used,  in  the  absence  of  any  other,  to 
designate  a  receptacle  for  the  sick  and  diseased  who  could 
neither  stand  up  nor  live  within  the  prison  bounds ;  but 


64  ANDERSONVILLE. 

it  is  not  intended  to  convey  the  idea  of  protecting  shel 
ter,  comfortable  cots,  soft  blankets,  or  nourishing  food, 
which  are  the  generally  understood  concomitants  of  such 
establishments.  It  was  organized  as  the  result  of  sheer 
necessity,  not  from  motives  of  humanity.  The  shelter 
at  first  was  heaven's  canopy,  subsequently  pine  boughs, 
and  finally  ragged  tents.  The  cots  upon  which  emaci 
ated  and  diseased  forms  were  to  repose  and  seek  relief 
were  holes  worn  into  the  ground  by  the  wretched  pa 
tients  as  they  writhed  in  pain  or  rolled  in  the  paroxysms 
of  fever ;  the  blankets  consisted  of  such  vermin-infested, 
ragged  clothing  as  the  rapacity  of  their  captors  had  left 
them ;  the  nourishing  food  was  a  piece  of  bread  two 
and  a  half  inches  square,  composed  of  corn  and  cow-peas 
ground  together  into  meal,  with  a  small  piece  of  fat  ba 
con.  Upon  such  sustenance  sick  and  dying  patients 
were  nourished — thus  nursed  and  protected.  And  now 
Death  was  busy.  Deputing  other  agents  to  the  superin 
tendence  of  battle  -  fields  where  they  gathered  mighty 
harvests,  he  presided  at  this  chosen  spot,  and  reaped  the 
fruits  which  inhumanity  had  planted  for  him.  The  hec 
atombs  which  were  daily  offered  up  to  the  destroyer  did 
not  for  a  moment  arrest  the  course  which  his  prime  func 
tionary,  Wirz,  had  marked  out  and  still  persisted  in. 

Dr.  Joseph  White,  a  surgeon  upon  Winder's  staff,  had 
control  of  this  hospital,  under  command  of  his  superior, 
and  after  him  Dr.  E.  E.  Stevenson  was  the  medical  director. 
The  details  of  occurrences,  of  deaths,  of  filth,  and  of  starv 
ation  in  this  place  are  too  repulsively  shocking  to  be i  em 
bodied  within  these  pages,  or  to  meet  the  public  eye  in 
all  their  naked  specifications,  and  the  author  is  ready  to 


ANDERSONVILLE.  65 

regret  the  task  which  he  has  undertaken,  and  to  throw 
down  the  pen  in  disgust  at  what  is  before  him.  A  stern 
determination,  however,  urges  him  forward  as  he  reflects 
that  it  is  due  to  the  truth  of  a  history  yet  unwritten  that 
these  repugnant  facts  should  be  made  known,  not  to  pur 
vey  to  a  morbid  feeling  of  curiosity  or  a  taste  for  the 
horrible,  but  as  portions  that  go  to  make  up  the  history 
of  a  momentous  event.  It  will  be  the  aim  of  the  author 
so  to  prune  off  and  shape  his  materials  as  to  shear  the 
loathsomeness  of  the  details  of  their  most  offensive  parts, 
that  the  general  reader  may  preserve  his  sensibilities 
from  too  rude  a  shock  in  their  perusal. 

It  is  in  evidence  from  every  Confederate  surgeon  who 
has  been  examined  that  the  filth  and  destitution  of  the 
patients  was  of  the  extremest  character.  Dr.  John  E. 
Bates,  who  was  on  duty  there,  says  that  when  he  first  en 
tered  a  ward  of  the  hospital  he  was  shocked.  Men  were 
lying  partially  naked,  dirty  and  lousy,  in  the  sand,  wast 
ing  under  gangrene,  putrid  from  fever-sores,  and  literally 
dying  from  starvation,  crowded  together  in  small  and 
unserviceable  tents.  They  asked  for  a  teaspoonful  of 
salt ;  they  begged  for  some  of  the  siftings  of  meal ;  they 
even  entreated  to  be  allowed  to  gnaw  a  bone  as  they  lay 
in  their  filth,  destitute  of  medical  attendance  as  of  every 
thing  else.  They  were  suffering  with  scurvy,  dropsy,  di 
arrhoea,  gangrene,  pneumonia,  and  almost  the  entire  cat 
alogue  of  diseases,  while  the  effluvium  from  the  hospitals 
was  sickeningly  offensive;  and  if  by  any  accident  the  doc 
tor's  hands  were  abraded,  he  refused  to  go  into  his  ward 
without  properly  protecting  them  from  contagion. 

The  systems  of  the  patients  were  so  reduced  by  in- 


66  ANDERSONVILLE. 

action  and  disease,  that  if  by  any  mischance  the  hand 
should  be  scratched  or  a  wound  created,  gangrene  would 
immediately  supervene.  One  of  his  patients,  a  prisoner 
of  but  sixteen  years  of  age,  was  down  with  both  gan 
grene  and  scurvy.  He  talked  of  and  cried  for  his  absent 
mother,  and  prayed  for  her  tender  hands  and  gentle  care 
to  soothe  his  anguish  or  dress  his  sores,  and  as  he  moved 
his  restless,  emaciated  body,  seeking  a  repose  that  was  de 
nied  him,  the  sand  would  rub  into  his  sores  and  disfigure 
the  very  pollution  which  was  destroying  him.  Although 
it  was  against  specific  orders  to  give  the  patients  any  food 
or  what  might  help  their  condition,  yet  the  doctor  now 
and  then  smuggled  into  his  little  patient's  hand  a  potato 
or  a  biscuit  to  appease  his  ravenous  hunger;  but,  not 
withstanding,  to  use  the  witness's  simple  but  heartrend 
ing  words,  "his  sores  gangrened,  and,  what  with  the  scurvy 
and  want  of  food,  and  from  lice,  he  died!" 

The  scurvy  was  next  to  rottenness.  Many  of  the  pa 
tients  could  not  eat  because  there  was  no  mastication ; 
their  teeth,  were  loose,  and  they  were  constantly  asking 
him  for  something  to  eat  that  would  not  cause  pain. 
The  rations  for  the  sick  were  less  than  twenty  ounces  for 
the  twenty-four  hours — not  enough  to  keep  a  man  alive, 
especially  if  the  food  was  "  monotonous"  and  consisted  of 
but  few  articles;  many  starved  to  death  on  account  of 
the  unwholesomeness  and  paucity  of  the  rations.  Dur 
ing  this  enactment  of  horror  the  medical  director  mani 
fested  no  interest  in  the  relief  of  the  necessitous,  but,  as 
was  proved,  entertained  his  visitors  at  his  quarters  with 
choice  viands,  and  placed  before  them  copious  draughts 
of  the  whisky  that  had  been  provided  for  his  rotting, 
dying  patients. 


ANDERSONVILLE.  67 

Dr.  William  Balser,  an  assistant  surgeon  at  Jackson 
ville,  Florida,  gave  his  experience  of  the  climax  of  this 
"  treatment  of  patients"  after  they  had  been  definitely  re 
leased  from  their  prison.  He  attended  a  large  number 
of  the  cases  from  Anderson ville,  and  gave  a  graphic  but 
sickening  account  of  their  horrible  condition  when  they 
came  into  his  hands.  The  larger  portion  of  them  were 
mere  skeletons.  Of  three  thousand  three  hundred  re 
leased  prisoners,  there  were  not  two  hundred  who  did 
not  require  medical  treatment,  and  not  one  half  of  those 
who  survived  would  ever  be  fit  to  resume  their  former 
occupations.  Some  of  those  afflicted  with  the  scurvy 
were  idiotic,  while  bones  had  to  be  removed  from  the 
jaws  and  other  parts  of  the  bodies  of  the  sufferers. 

Such  is  an  eliminated  statement  of  the  condition  of  the 
hospitals  and  the  treatment  of  the  inmates  at  this  period. 
In  due  chronological  order  we  must  recur,  however  un 
willingly,  to  these  receptacles  again. 

But  Wirz,  the  superintendent,  was  not  idle,  for  day 
after  day  he  could  be  seen  riding  upon  his  well-known 
pony  into  the  shambles  which  he  controlled,  or  to  the 
trenches  which  he  had  ordered  dug,  where  his  victims 
were  hurriedly  deposited  "  after  life's  fitful  fever  was 
over,"  their  winding  -  sheets  a  basketful  of  quick-lime, 
their  only  requiem  the  oaths  of  the  man  who  superin 
tended  their  burial.  He  was,  indeed, "  doing  more  than  a 
dozen  regiments  at  the  front!" 

By  the  end  of  the  month  the  number  of  prisoners 
amounted  to  eight  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fifty,  but 
before  it  was  expired  their  number  was  swelled  up  to 
nineteen  thousand.  On  some  days  the  railroad  would 


68  ANDERSONVILLE. 

be  blocked  up  with  trains  loaded  with  captives  of  war 
destined  for  Andersonville.  The  condition  in  which 
they  arrived  was  deplorable  enough.  They  had  passed 
the  ordeal  of  search  and  plunder  by  their  original  cap 
tors  ;  they  had  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  the  swarms  of  ra 
pacious  guards  who  accompanied  them  to  their  destina 
tion  ;  but  now  they  had  to  pass  the  critical  examination 
of  their  future  jailer,  whose  keen  scent  could  not  well  be 
avoided,  and  when  they  left  his  hands  his  satellites  as 
sumed  the  privilege  of  picking  what  was  left.  By  the 
time  they  passed  within  the  gates  of  their  prison,  a  scav 
enger  would  have  been  poorly  repaid  for  a  search  among 
what  yet  remained  to  them. 

The  numbers  now  congregated  within  the  inclosure 
were  so  great  as  to  induce  increased  circumspection  on 
the  part  of  Wirz  in  guarding  them,  because,  if  they  had 
been  aware  of  the  fact  that  the  mere  exercise  of  their  own 
unaided  physical  force  was  sufficient  to  have  burst  the 
barriers  that  confined  them,  they  would  doubtless  have 
effected  their  liberation.  Wirz  was  afraid  of  this,  and 
also  afraid  of  mutiny,  and  he  employed  all  the  means  that 
his  ingenuity  could  suggest  to  prevent  the  one  or  to  sup 
press  the  other.  He  instituted  a  system  of  punishments, 
the  most  efficacious  of  which,  in  his  estimation,  were  the 
stocks  and  the  chain-gangs.  The  former  were  a  rude 
but  improved  imitation  of  those  in  use  more  than  a  cen 
tury  ago.  They  were  constructed  of  a  heavy  frame-work 
of  timber  six  feet  in  height ;  at  the  top  a  two-inch  plank 
was  arranged  so  as  to  be  opened,  with  a  hole,  one  half  of 
which  was  contained  in  the  upper  and  the  other  half  in 
the  lower  and  stationary  plank,  the  circumference  of  the 


ANDERSONVILLE.  60 

hole  being  the  size  of  a  man's  neck.  The  upper  plank 
being  raised,  the  neck  of  the  culprit  was  inserted,  the 
board  was  lowered  and  fastened,  and  the  prisoner  se 
cured.  If  Nature  had  given  sufficient  altitude  to  the 
sufferer,  he  could  stand  upon  his  feet  without  danger  of 
being  choked ;  but  if,  unfortunately,  his  stature  was  un 
der  the  limit,  he  could  only  mitigate  the  torture  of  his 
punishment  by  touching  his  toes  to  the  ground,  and  thus 
give  himself  some  relief. 

Often  five  and  six  men  could  be  seen  standing  or 
reaching  through  the  apertures,  their  heads  protruding 
on  the  other  side,  and  exposed  to  a  scorching  sun  for  six 
hours;  and  frequently  the  poor  wretches  would  faint 
from  exhaustion  before  the  terms  of  their  punishment 
had  expired,  or,  when  released,  would  sink  down  in  a 
swoon,  and  be  borne  back  to  their  prison. 

It  will  scarcely  be  credited  that  one  poor  fellow  was 
taken  from  the  hospital,  by  Wirz's  orders,  for  some  trivial 
offense,  borne  by  two  men  to  the  stocks,  where  he  was 
left  until  death,  more  merciful  than  his  jailer,  relieved 
him  from  his  sufferings  in  one  hour. 

The  chain-gang  was  another  contrivance  to  punish 
and  humiliate  the  manhood  of  his  defenseless  prisoners. 
Sometimes  ten  men  could  be  seen,  each  one  with  a  heavy 
chain  passed  around  his  neck,  crossing  behind  his  back, 
and  united  in  front  to  another,  which  was  connected  with 
hand-cuffs  on  the  wrists  and  by  another  chain,  attached 
to  a  thirty-two-pound  iron  ball,  which  dragged  upon  the 
ground.  Two  and  three  weeks  was  the  ordinary  limit 
of  this  species  of  punishment,  the  victims  meanwhile 
being  exposed  to  sun  and  rain,  and  limited  to  one  half 
their  usual  scanty  rations. 


70  ANUERSONVILLE. 

The  refinement  of  his  cruelty  in  devising  punishment 
consisted  in  the  foot-stocks,  constructed  somewhat  similar 
to  those  above  described  for  the  neck,  but  intended  for 
the  confinement  of  the  ankles.  Seated  upon  the  ground, 
his  limbs  elevated  at  an  angle  of  about  forty  degrees,  the 
feet  were  firmly  locked  between  two  boards,  and  the  pris 
oner  was  forbid  to  rest  his  wearied  body  by  reclining  at 
length  upon  the  ground ;  if  he  attempted  this  he  was  pun 
ished  with  stripes  by  the  guard,  or  liable  to  a  bullet  from 
the  ever-ready  revolver  of  Wirz  himself,  should  he  pass 
by  and  find  the  sufferer  in  this  position. 

To  complete  his  precautions  for  the  safe-keeping  of  his 
charge,  or  to  quell  any  disposition  to  revolt,  he  had  placed, 
through  General  Winder's  orders,  a  battery  of  six  pieces 
of  artillery,  which  commanded  the  whole  interior  of  the 
prison,  and  which  was  kept  charged  with  grape  and  can 
ister,  ready  for  instant  service.  The  orders  to  the  officer 
in  command  were  to  "sweep  the  stockade"  if  there  was 
any  appearance  of  mutiny,  or  any  unusual  crowding  to 
gether  of  its  inmates. 

The  artillerists  were  on  duty  night  as  well  as  day,  and 
were  relieved  at  their  guns  as  regularly  as  were  the  cus 
tomary  sentinels  on  guard.  The  position  of  the  battery, 
upon  a  hill  and  overlooking  the  prison,  while  it  com 
manded  its  whole  interior,  was  such  that,  if  the  order  had 
ever  been  given  to  fire,  its  hurtling  grape  would  have 
borne  death  and  desolation  to  many  thousands. 

When  General  Kilpatrick,  of  the  Union  army,  was  ex 
pected  to  advance  in  his  raid  as  far  as  Andersonville,  the 
following  order  was  issued.  It  is  given  here,  out  of  its 
chronological  order,  to  show  the  animus  of  all  concerned 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  71 

in  the  administration  of  the  government  of  the  prison, 
and  as  evidence  of  the  precautions  taken  to  prevent  the 
release  of  the  prisoners: 

"  Orders  No.  13. 

"Head-quarters,  Confederate  States  Military  Prison, > 
Andcrsonville,  July  27,  1864.  > 

"The  officer  on  duty  and  in  charge  of  the  battery  of 
*  Florida  Artillery'  at  the  time  will,  upon  receiving  no 
tice  that  the  enemyjhave  approached  within  seven  miles 
of  this  post,  open  fire  upon  the  stockade  with  grape-shot, 
without  reference  to  the  situation  beyond  these  lines  of 
defense. 

"  It  is  better  that  the  last  Federal  be  exterminated  than 
be  permitted  to  burn  and  pillage  the  property  of  loyal 
citizens,  as  they  will  do  if  allowed  to  make  their  escape 
from  the  prison.  By  order  of 

"  JOHN  II.  WINDER,  Brigadier  General. 

"  W.  S.  WINDER,  Assistant  Adjutant  General." 

It  is  not  out  of  place  to  remark  here  that,  upon  the 
promulgation  of  this  sanguinary  and  barbarous  order,  a 
citizen  of  Sumter  County,  and  an  arch-secessionist,  who 
happened  to  be  with  the  militia  force  called  out  by  the 
Governor  of  Georgia  for  the  defense  of  Anderson ville, 
remonstrated  with  General  Winder  against  its  inhumani 
ty.  The  reply  was,  "  Sir,  I  will  kill  the  last  d— d  Yankee 
in  that  stockade  before  Sherman  or  Kilpatrick  shall  re 
lease  them !  God  d — n  my  soul  if  I  would  not  rather 
see  those  twenty  thousand  scoundrels  blown  to  hell  than 
go  to  heaven  myself!" 


72  ANDERSONVILLE. 

No  comment  is  made  upon  this  reply  except  that  the 
author  was  extremely  reluctant  to  transfer  Winder's  ex 
act  words  to  his  pages,  and  only  consented  because  they 
exemplified  so  completely  the  spirit  which  actuated  him 
both  as  a  warden  in  a  church  and  a  commander  intrusted 
with  the  fate  of  men  of  the  same  mould  as  himself. 

We  will  return,  in  point  of  time,  to  an  extraordinary 
accession  of  prisoners  which  now  took  place. 

The  result  of  General  Stoneman's  efforts  to  penetrate 
into  Georgia,  his  defeat  and  capture,  his  imprisonment  at 
Macon,  and  his  subsequent  exchange,  is  matter  of  history, 
and  belongs  to  another  recital.  But  with  his  men,  or  at 
least  a  part  of  them,  who  composed  his  command,  it  is 
now  the  duty  of  the  author  to  treat.  Stoneman's  ad 
vance  had  not  only  been  anticipated,  but  it  was  thought 
to  be  provided  against ;  and,  strange  as  it  may  sound  to 
military  men,  a  hastily  collected,  badly  armed,  and  worse 
drilled  militia  effected  the  capture.  The  news  of  the  un 
expected  success  spread  like  the  reports  of  Fame  of  old, 
arid  eager  crowds  from  miles  around  rushed  to  the  prison 
to  witness  the  arrival  of  the  captives. 

Four  trains  of  cars  successively  came  loaded  down  with 
the  men  who  were  destined  to  play  such  a  conspicuous 
part  in  the  drama  which  was  to  be  enacted  at  this  place. 
Especial  care  had  been  taken  by  the  authorities  to  receive 
them,  and  the  cars  were  stopped  some  distance  above  the 
usual  halting -place,  while  extra  guards  were  stationed 
around  the  spot. 

As  each  train  arrived,  squads  of  ten  men  were  taken 
into  a  detached  building  near  by,  where  Wirz,  E.  B.  Win 
der,  and  W.  S.  Winder  were  assembled.  There  each  man 


ANDERSONVILLE.  73 

was  searched  by  Duncan  and  Humes,  was  stripped  to  his 
shirt,  if  he  possessed  one,  his  shoes  were  closely  scrutin 
ized  and  the  soles  examined,  and  the  shoes  themselves 
appropriated  if  they  were  found  worthy ;  the  linings  of 
the  waistbands  were  inspected ;  of  course  the  pockets  of 
the  pantaloons  were  turned  inside  out  and  their  contents 
appropriated.  The  proceeds  derived  from  this  search 
were  turned  over  to  Wirz  for  temporary  deposit,  after 
ward  to  be  divided  fairly. 

The  squads  were  then  turned  over  to  the  sergeants  of 
the  guard,  and  such  miscellaneous  articles  as  their  supe 
riors  did  not  require,  or  did  not  deign  to  take,  were  ap 
propriated.  Thence  they  were  passed  to  the  outside 
guard  to  be  marshaled  into  procession  for  the  prison.  If 
these  last  harpies  found  any  thing  upon  the  persons  of 
the  prisoners  worthy  of  their  regard,  it  was  incontinently 
taken,  and,  by  the  time  the  poor  wretches  formed  into 
column,  the  regiment  that  Falstaff  once  raised  would  have 
shone  in  comparison  with  these. 

When  they  at  last  reached  the  stockade  and  were 
turned  into  the  gates,  the  remnants  that  were  left  to  them 
by  the  rapacious  crew  through  whose  hands  they  had 
passed  were  not  sufficient  to  cover  their  nakedness.  But 
there  was  slight  comfort  left  the  poor  devils  in  the  reflec 
tion  that  they  were  no  worse  off  than  the  twenty  thou 
sand  who  had  preceded  them  into  this  Gehenna  of  earthly 
misery,  and  none  of  these  could  boast  themselves  of  be 
ing  possessed  of  more  than  themselves. 

The  picture  is  but  faintly  drawn,  as  the  author  most 
willingly  confesses ;  for  there  are  such  demands  upon  his 
pencil  that  the  hand  wearies,  and  the  natural  tints  that 

D 


74  ANDERSONVILLE. 

he  has  taken  fresh  from,  the  palette  fail  to  spread  them 
selves  upon  his  canvas  at  his  bidding.  If  by  one  dash 
of  his  brush  he  can  depict  the  trophies  secured  on  this 
memorable  occasion,  he  will  do  so  by  saying  that  two 
carpet  or  traveling  sacks  were  filled  with  watches,  gold 
and  silver,  daguerreotypes,  and  miniatures  taken  from 
these  prisoners.  And,  by  a  strange  consistency  of  events, 
even  while  the  trial  of  one  of  the  principals  in  this  trans 
action  was  occurring  at  Washington  in  1865,  a  police  de 
tective  captured  from  a  man,  a  friend  of  E.  B.  Winder, 
on  board  of  a  James  Kiver  steam-boat,  the  two  identical 
sacks  with  the  watches  therein.  The  amount  of  green 
backs  obtained  will  never  be  known ;  but,  if  surmise  may 
be  allowed  its  range,  and  judging  from  the  brisk  trade 
that  followed  this  foray  upon  the  pockets  of  the  captives, 
it  was  not  a  small  one. 

If  the  unsuccessful  raiders  had  accomplished  nothing 
else  in  their  hazardous  enterprise,  they  may  now  have 
the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  their  advent  to  Ander- 
sonville  opened  a  trade  in  disloyal  currency  which  fully 
satisfied  the  avaricious  cravings  of  those  who  reaped  the 
greatest  profits  from  the  transaction. 


ANDERSONVILLE.  75 


CEAPTER  VII. 

Routine  within  the  Prison. — Escaped  Prisoners. — The  Blood-hounds. — 
Composition  of  the  Pack. — The  Story  of  Achuff. — Wirz  on  a  Hunt. 
— Death  of  the  Cripple  "Chickamauga." — The  Bury  ing-ground. 

1  THE  prisoners  were  divided  into  messes  or  squads  of 
about  ninety  men,  under  the  charge  of  a  sergeant  or  oth 
er  non-commissioned  officer,  who  paraded  them  daily,  that 
the  rolls  might  be  called  and  the  absent  noted.  The  ra 
tions  for  one  day  generally  consisted  of  two  ounces  of 
bacon,  a  sweet  potato  when  in  season,  a  piece  of  bread 
two  and  a  half  inches  square,  composed  of  Corn  and  cow- 
peas  ground  together  into  meal  and  unsifted.,, 

If,  at  roll-call,  any  of  the  squad  did  not  answer  to  their 
names,  and  no  satisfactory  reason  could  be  assigned  for 
their  absence,  particularly  if  any  had  made  their  escape, 
the  rest  of  the  mess  were  usually  deprived  of  their  rations 
for  twenty-four  hours  or  longer,  as  the  case  might  be, 
notwithstanding  that  those  present  were  entirely  inno 
cent  of  the  causes  of  their  comrades'  absence. 

The  arrangements  for  apprehending  escaped  prisoners 
were  as  perfect  as  the  ingenuity  of  Wirz,  aided  by  the 
skill  and  interest  of  others,  could  make  them.  To  effect 
recaptures  dogs  were  employed — hounds.  The  first  pack 
was  organized  under  the  superintendence  of  Wesley  W. 
Turner,  a  citizen  of  Sumter  County,  and  numbered  nine. 
For  the  use  of  his  dogs  and  managing  them,  taking  them 


76  ANDERSONVILLE. 

to  track  and  catch  prisoners,  he  was  paid  by  Wirz  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per  month.  During  the  month 
of  May,  however,  the  control  of  the  hounds  was  trans 
ferred  to  Benjamin  Harris,  who  managed  them  during 
the  remainder  of  the  time  that  they  were  required. 
There  were  other  volunteer  packs  within  a  distance  of 
twenty  or  thirty  miles,  whose  services  were  occasionally 
used  by  their  owners,  and  who  were  paid  fifteen  dollars 
a  head  for  all  captures  returned  to  the  prison.  At  one 
time  Harris's  pack  attained  the  number  of  twenty -two, 
and  among  them  were  dogs  of  pure  Cuban  bloocL^... 

The  constitution  of  a  pack  of  hounds  is  somewhat  pe 
culiar.  It  is  requisite  to  assort  them  in  such  a  way  that 
every  advantage  may  be  taken  of  their  different  abilities 
and  powers  of  endurance.  Some  are  needed  to  trace  the 
steps  of  the  fugitive  and  point  out  the  course  he  has 
taken ;  their  scent  must  be  keen  and  their  muscle  good. 
To  supply  any  failure  on  the  part  of  these,  others  are 
needed,  who  will  take  up  the  scent  and  "  keep  it  warm." 
After  these  come  the  "  catch  dogs"  —  the  real  blood 
hounds,  who,  following  at  a  more  leisurely  pace,  keep 
within  hearing  of  those  who  head  the  course,  and  when 
the  quarry  comes  to  bay,  or  "is  treed,"  are  generally  up 
in  time  to  take  the  prey.  These  dogs  are  naturally  very 
ferocious,  and  require  no  other  stimulus  to  display  their 
savage  characters  than  a  sight  of  the  chase  which  they 
have  been  pursuing. 

Often,  after  an  "  exciting"  hunt,  when  his  horse  had 
given  out  from  the  length  and  severity  of  the  ride  after 
an  American  citizen,  the  owner  of  the  pack  would  come 
upon  the  fugitive  standing  at  bay,  with  club  in  hand, 


ANDERSONVILLE.  77 

vainly  endeavoring  to  beat  off  the  ferocious  brutes,  who, 
with  dripping  jaws,  were  closely  pressing  upon  him,  or, 
it  may  be,  they  had  already  succeeded  in  breaking  in  his 
guard,  and  were  engaged  in  tearing  and  mangling  their 
defenseless  victim.  Blows  only  could  force  off  the  rav 
enous  pack,  and  the  exhausted,  terrified  fugitive  would 
be  captured,  and  for  a  long  time  would  bear  about  his 
emaciated  body  the  ghastly  signs  of  his  captor's  rapac 
ity,  provided  his  rough  treatment  did  not  terminate  in 
death. 

Joseph  E.  Achuff,  of  a  Massachusetts  regiment  and  a 
prisoner,  succeeded  in  making  his  escape  one  day.  He 
was  one  of  three  who  had  been  permitted  to  go  out  under 
charge  of  a  guard  to  gather  wood,  and  when  they  reached 
the  forest  he  suddenly  jumped  upon  the  soldier,  and  his 
two  companions  disarmed  him  and  tied  him.  The  three 
separated  and  made  off  in  pursuit  of  their  liberty.  Soon 
the  deep  voices  of  the  hounds  opened  upon  their  ears, 
and  Achuff  took  to  the  swamp,  thinking  that  his  tracks 
could  be  less  easily  followed  through  the  water  and  mo 
rass.  But  these  were  of  little  avail  to  him,  and  in  a 
short  time  the  dogs  and  their  yelling  owner  were  upon 
him,  and  he  came  to  bay,  his  back  against  a  tree,  and  a 
slight,  rotten  stick  in  his  hand.  His  only  clothing  con 
sisted  of  a  shirt  and  pair  of  pantaloons  made  from  two 
meal  sacks,  which  he  had  secreted  in  the  prison.  Five 
hounds  attacked  him,  and  with  the  first  blow  his  weapon 
broke ;  meanwhile  the  two  drivers  came  up.  For  ten 
minutes  this  hard-beset  man  struggled  against  these  suck 
ers  of  his  blood  with  his  fists  alone,  the  owner  of  the 
pack  urging  the  brutes  to  their  fiendish  work  with  en- 


78  ANDERSONVILLE. 

couraging  yells.  When  at  last  he  could  contend  no  more 
from  exhaustion,  and  the  hopelessness  of  the  contest  un 
nerved  him,  he  fell,  and  the  bloodthirsty  animals  tore  and 
bit  him,  with  their  frothing  muzzles  in  his  face  and  their 
fangs  fastened  to  his  cheeks,  until  the  brutal  ferocity  of 
the  leader  was  at  length  satisfied,  and  he  called  off  his 
hounds.  The  taste  of  blood  which  they  had  made  them 
deaf  to  orders,  and  they  would  not  yield  up  their  prey. 
They  were  at  length  torn  off  by  the  hind  legs,  and  with 
them  came,  too,  portions  of  his  flaccid  flesh  and  hard- 
earned  pantaloons. 

He  was  bound  and  led  back  to  Wirz,  who  punished 
him  with  the  stocks  for  thirty-six  hours,  exposed  to  the 
sun,  bloody,  wounded,  sore  as  he  was,  while  his  parched 
throat  was  relieved  with  but  two  drinks  of  muddy,  foul 
water  during  that  entire  period.  Wirz  passed  him  once 
during  his  torture ;  and  when  he  appealed  to  him  for  a 
release,  and  complained  of  the  cruel  treatment  to  which 
he  was  subjected,  he  was  told  to  "dry  up,  or  he  would 
blow  his  d — d  brains  out!"  This  is  not  an  isolated  case; 
it  is,  unfortunately,  but  one  out  of  the  many  which  were 
of  daily  occurrence. 

The  sport  of  hunting  escaped  prisoners  was  regarded 
by  Wirz  as  a  relaxation  from  the  monotony  of  his  tor 
turing  and  daily  duty,  and  it  was  no  unusual  thing  for 
him  to  "  follow  the  hounds"  in  their  run  after  human 
game  for  twelve  hours  at  a  stretch.  The  relief  which 
this  afforded  from  official  routine  was  enjoyed  by  the 
coursing  captain  with  a  zest  which  would  have  excited 
the  admiration  of  the  keenest  sportsman  of  meaner  prey. 

When  notice  was  given  him  that  a  prisoner  had  es- 


ANDERSONVILLE.  79 

caped,  word  was  passed  to  Harris,  and  the  animating 
sounds  of  yelping  hounds  and  braying  horns  gave  signal 
that  "  game  was  up."  With  canteen  well  filled  with  hos 
pital  whisky,  and  haversack  stuffed  with  meat  and  bis 
cuit,  his  pouch  of  tobacco  dangling  from  a  button-hole, 
and  his  revolver  buttoned  in  its  holster,  the  jailer  would 
mount  his  pony  and  hurry  away  to  the  exciting  sport. 
Leading  the  dogs  around  the  stockade  with  encouraging 
words,  they  soon  strike  the  scent,  while  the  deep  bay  of 
the  pack  proclaims  that  it  is  warm,  and  the  rout  dash  off 
with  eagerness  on  the  track.  Now  and  then,  in  the  dis 
tance,  can  be  heard  the  loud  mouth  of  the  leading  dog, 
signaling  the  rest,  and  showing  that  his  unerring  nose  is 
tracing  out  the  game. 

If  the  run  is  long,  and  the  fugitive  has  obtained  a  good 
start,  and  the  heat  and  ride  has  wearied  the  captain,  he 
will,  perhaps,  rest  for  a  brief  space  near  some  stream,  and 
invigorate  his  hopes  of  success  with  a  dram,  and  then  re 
new  the  hunt  with  fresh  energy.  Toward  the  close  of 
clay,  repeated  calls  upon  the  canteen  will  have  diminished 
its  contents,  and  the  haversack  will  have  been  emptied 
of  its  store ;  but  the  sight  of  some  friendly  house  will 
cheer  him  with  the  prospect  of  a  fresh  supply,  that  the 
energetic  huntsman  may  not  suffer  from  want  or  weari 
ness,  and  he  urges  on  the  chase.  At  length,  through 
swamps,  over  old  fields,  and  through  dense  woods,  the 
loud  voices  of  the  hounds,  mingled  with  the  sounds  of 
horns,  give  notice  from  afar  that  the  "game  is  treed," 
and  the  persevering  captain  hurries  up  his  jaded  pony 
that  he  may  be  in  "  at  the  death."  There  would  be  the 
poor  hunted  wretch,  throttled  by  the  dogs  and  lacerated 


80  ANDERSONVILLE. 

by  the  blood-hounds,  sick  unto  death  from  his  race,  his 
fright,  and  his  wounds,  the  trophy  of  the  day.  Con 
fronted  with  the  director  of  the  rout,  wondrous  oaths  and 
curses  would  be  showered  upon  his  head,  perhaps  blows 
upon  his  wearied  body,  with  threats  of  his  revolver,  and 
he  would  be  led  back  to  suffer  yet  more  in  the  stocks  or 
the  chain-gang  for  his  temerity  in  daring  to  escape  from 
the  wretchedness  that  was  his  fate. 

This  is  no  fancy-drawn  sketch;  the  whole  country 
around  Andersonville  has  been  often  awakened  by  the 
braying  of  the  huntsman's  horns,  and  the  echoes  startled 
with  the  yelping  cries  of  the  hounds,  as  they  opened  upon 
the  track  of  a  fugitive  prisoner.  The  evidence  taken  be 
fore  the  Military  Commission  was  overwhelming  upon 
this  point,  and  its  recapitulation  here  would  be  but  a  repe 
tition  of  what  has  been  already  written.  The  facts  which 
were  given  in  evidence  in  relation  to  the  use  of  hounds, 
and  the  sufferings  endured  from  them,  would  fill  a  vol 
ume  by  themselves,  and  among  the  very  few  admissions 
made  by  Wirz  this  was  one.  The  simple  truth  is  repuls 
ive  enough  without  drawing  upon  fancy  to  aid  its  effects, 
or  without  copying  the  official  reports  of  Wirz  to  Winder, 
from  one  of  which  the  foregoing  epitome  has  been  de 
duced. 

In  all  this  time  filth  and  misery  reigned  supreme  within 
the  stockade,  and  starving  wretchedness  stalked  around, 
or  was  hauled  out  to  its  last  receptacle  in  the  trenches. 
Twenty-seven  thousand  nine  hundred  men  were  now  con 
fined  in  the  prison  limits.  Their  destitution  and  misery 
can  not  be  conceived;  their  desire  for  some  mitigation 
of  their  discomforts,  and  their  unceasing  appeals  for  trivial 


ANDERSONVILLE.  81 

privileges,  which  did  not  invade  the  most  unyielding  in 
humanity,  were  piteous. 

It  was  deemed  necessary  to  enlarge  the  area  of  the 
prison  bounds,  so  that  at  least  standing-room  might  be 
given  to  the  prisoners,  and  it  was,  in  consequence,  ex 
tended  toward  the  north  so  as  to  include  five  more  acres. 
It  is  true  that  this  afforded  somewhat  more  space,  but  its 
immediate  occupation  by  the  overcrowded  captives  seem 
ed  scarcely  to  diminish  the  press  of  men  within  the  walls. 
In  the  expressive  words  of  a  witness,  a  Confederate  offi 
cer,  "  the  human  beings  there  looked  more  like  so  many 
ants,  and  their  burrows  like  so  many  ant-hills,  than  any 
thing  else." 

"Or  say,"  said  Wirz's  counsel,  "like  so  many  bees?" 

"No,  sir,"  replied  the  witness,  " bees  are  notoriously 
clean — the  prisoners  were  offensively  filthy  !" 

Many  of  the  poor  fellows  had  dug  holes  in  the  slope 
of  the  hill  large  enough  to  allow  about  four  men  to  lie 
down  close  to  each  other.  The  dirt  taken  out  by  the 
excavations  was  appropriated  by  others  to  plaster  up  the 
shanties  they  had  erected  of  poles  and  brush,  and  by  this 
means  they  were  enabled  to  exclude  the  weather.  Some 
improvised  temporary  coverings  of  blankets  and  cloth 
ing,  under  which  the  occupants  crouched  and  panted  in 
the  midday  when  the  sun  poured  down  all  his  rays,  or 
under  their  shelter  sought  protection  from  the  drench 
ing  rains. 

Others,  whom  apathy,  which  long-suffering  had  in 
duced,  and  with  entire  disregard  to  comfort,  however 
poor,  that  weariness  of  life  instigated,  sat  sullenly  around 
during  the  hot  hours  of  the  day,  or  lay  down  at  night 

D2 


82  ANDERSONYILLE. 

wherever  sleep  or  exhaustion  overtook  them,  careless 
whether  the  sun  and  the  dews  bred  disease  or  not. 

The  continuous  stir  and  the  ceaseless  movement  among 
the  prisoners,  the  constant  crossing  and  intermingling  of 
the  thousands  as  they  passed  and  repassed  to  and  fro, 
most  naturally  prompted  the  comparison  with  ants  which 
the  witness  made.  An  increasing  vibration  was  kept  up 
among  the  throng,  relieved  from  its  monotonous  sough 
by  the  dull  hum  of  confused  voices  that  rose  from  that 
overcrowded  place,  while  the  spectator  might  weary  him 
self  with  the  vain  attempt  to  disintegrate  the,  noises  which 
assailed  his  ears. 

Now  and  then  these  sounds  would  be  diversified  by 
the  occasional  thug  of  a  musket,  as  some  watchful  senti 
nel  spied  an  infraction  of  the  dead  line,  and  sent  his  bul 
let  into  the  transgressor's  brain.  A  shriek,  a  convulsive 
twitch  of  the  victim's  limbs,  a  crimson  stream  down  the 
cheek,  glaring  eyes  and  paling  lips — a  rush  and  crowd 
of  hundreds  to  the  spot  where  he  lay — it  was  only  one 
more  who  had  paid  the  penalty  of  reaching  a  pole  with 
cup  on  end  to  dip  up  some  clearer  water  beyond  that 
fatal  line. 

On  the  15th  day  of  May,  a  poor  fellow,  a  member  of 
the  8th  Missouri  Regiment,  who  had  lost  a  leg  at  the  bat 
tle  of  Chickamauga,  and  who  was  named  thereafter,  and 
who,  in  consequence  of  the  want  of  good  sense,  was  also 
nicknamed  by  his  fellows  "Mutton-head,"  asked  the  sen 
tinel  to  call  Captain  Wirz,  for  he  had  been  so  worried 
and  badgered  by  his  mates  that  he  must  seek  some  escape 
from  them.  Wirz  came,  and  "  Chickamauga"  proffered 
his  request  to  be  allowed  to  go  outside  on  parole.  Wirz 


ANDERSONVILLE.  83 

cursed  him,  and  threatened  to  shoot  him  if  he  ever  again 
bothered  him  with  such  a  request.  In  a  whining,  sup 
plicatory  tone,  the  half-witted  cripple  reiterated  his  peti 
tion,  and  told  him  that  "  he  would  rather  be  shot  than 
stay  there  any  longer — the  men  plagued  him  to  death  I" 
Turning  to  the  sentinel  on  the  platform,  Wirz  cried  out, 
"  Shoot  the  one-legged  Yankee  devil !"  The  guard  fired, 
the  ball  shattering  the  man's  head,  and  in  two  minutes 
he  died.  His  useless  crutches  were  seized  by  his  former 
companions  for  fuel,  while  the  crippled  imbecile  was 
"  hauled  out  by  his  leg,"  to  be  borne  away  to  the  quick 
lime  and  the  trench. 

Shall  we  go  with  the  wagon  and  its  loathsome  load  of 
mortality  to  this  last  receptacle  of  man,  and  see  the  wit 
less  "Chickamauga"  placed  in  his  grave?  It  is  a  repul 
sive  duty,  but  it  must  be,  for  it  is  part  of  what  is  doing 
here  now,  and,  besides,  the  tenants  of  that  spot  were  fast 
pressing  by  their  numbers  upon  the  precincts  of  the  liv 
ing*,  and  they  deserve  some  notice  at  our  hands. 

See  that  great,  high -bodied  wagon,  drawn  by  four 
mules,  lumbering  along,  and  creaking  under  its  load  of 
mortal  men,  on  its  way  to  the  long  home !  It  stops  for 
a  moment  while  two  attendant  negroes  lift  up,  not  rever 
ently  and  silently,  as  is  wont  with  the  dead,  what  remains 
of  the  shallow-brained  "  Chickamauga,"  but  as  one  would 
seize  the  carcase  of  a  dog  they  grasp  him  by  hair  and 
leg,  and  toss  him  over  into  the  body  of  the  wagon,  and  it 
lumbers  onward  to  the  prison  cemetery ! 

Here,  in  long  trenches,  lay  those  who  had  preceded  him 
to  their  "narrow  home."  Some  twenty  have  been  already 
cast  in,  and  with  the  load  just  arrived  this  trench  will  be 


84:  ANDERSONVILLE. 

filled.  One  by  one  they  are  roughly  thrown  into  the 
excavation,  some  in  their  descent  falling  upon  the  head, 
others  rolling  doubled  up  together,  and  others  again 
sprawling  upon  their  faces.  The  attendants  threw  the 
Missouri  idiot  with  a  force  that  sent  him  seated  with  his 
back  resting  against  the  side  of  the  trench,  his  head  hang 
ing  on  one  side,  and  his  glazed,  unclosed  eyes  glaring 
upon  the  companions  of  his  tomb.  An  awful  sight  he 
was  as  he  sat  there  in  his  grim  wretchedness,  hideous  and 
spectral,  imitating  the  life  which  had  left  him  in  position 
and  vestment,  but  sitting  there  only  to  claim  his  privilege 
of  being  hid  away  under  the  ground,  to  find  the  repose 
denied  him  upon  earth !  A  striking  commentary  upon 
the  "deep  damnation  of  his  taking  off." 

With  a  careless  kick  of  the  foot  from  a  negro,  the  limp 
form  fell  prone,  and  was  at  last  at  rest.  A  few  baskets- 
ful  of  quick-lime  were  scattered  over  all,  a  few  shovels- 
ful  of  dirt  cast  upon  the  recumbent  misery  there,  and 
without  a  prayer,  "  uncofiined  and  unknelled,"  poor 
"  Chickamauga"  sleeps  until  the  last  reveille  shall  awaken 
him  and  his  brother  dead. 


ANDERSONVILLE.  85 


CHAPTER  YIII. 

Kindness  of  Confederate  Surgeons. — Contributions  by  the  Ladies. — Con 
trasts. — Refusal  of  Winder  to  permit  Aid  for  the  Sick. — A  Church 
warden's  Language. — Attempt  to  obtain  an  Injunction  to  abate  the 
Nuisance. — The  Result. 

WE  gladly  turn  from  the  revolting  details  that  have 
been  forced  upon  us  to  a  brighter  view,  which  falls  like  a 
beam  of  light  upon  the  dark  shadows  that  have  obscured 
the  pictures  we  have  been  compelled  to  draw.  It  may 
be  asked  by  the  susceptible  reader  if  the  foregoing  de 
lineations  have  been  given  merely  to  excite  superfluous 
horror?  If  this  condensed  statement  of  what  has  been 
verified  under  oath  is  not  intended  to  keep  alive  the  bit 
terness  which  occasioned  the  miseries  described  ? 

The  answer  is,  Are  the  outrages  committed  upon  de 
fenseless  prisoners  of  war,  and  the  sufferings  endured  by 
the  obscure  soldiers  of  the  Union,  to  be  passed  over  as 
mere  incidents  of  the  rebellion  ?  Are  the  nauseating  de 
tails  of  their  captivity,  misery,  and  death  beneath  the  dig 
nity  of  narration  ? 

Perhaps  it  might  be  better  to  deal  with  oppression  and 
murder  in  the  abstract,  and  not  to  enter  into  the  special 
details  of  their  perpetration  —  to  suffer  the  "dead"  past 
"  to  bury  its  dead,"  and  to  cast  into  one  oblivious  stream 
all  that  is  repugnant  to  enlightened  humanity,  that  it 
may  sink  and  be  unrecorded  to  the  prejudice  of  man 
hood. 


86  ANDERSONVILLE. 

If  mere  sensibility  was  regarded  —  if  it  was  sought  to 
combine  the  fifty  thousand  tragedies  enacted  at  Ander- 
sonville  into  one  sentence  of  condemnation,  and  then  per 
mit  them  to  pass  into  forgetfulness,  perhaps  it  might  be 
well  to  follow  such  instigation. 

But  it  must  be  remembered  that  these  statements  are 
no  inconsiderable  part  of  the  history  of  the  great  rebel 
lion  that  brought  them  into  such  vivid  life ;  that  these 
hideous  recitals  furnish  the  clew  to  .that  inner  life  and 
motive  which  was  the  cause  of  the  mighty  movement  by 
which  a  vast  tyranny  was  sought  to  be  erected,  and  the 
great  republic  of  the  world  destroyed. 

State  documents,  dignified  accounts  of  important  bat 
tles  doubtless  possess  great  value  —  oftentimes  they  are 
hardly  worth  the  paper  upon  which  they  are  written. 
As  a  connecting  link  between  the  battles  fought  for  their 
release  from  captivity  and  the  sufferings  of  over  fifteen 
thousand  literal  victims,  this  narrative  is  given.  That  it 
may  be  realized  that  the  documents  which  have  been  is 
sued  from  the  government  having  reference  to  this  pris 
on  had  a  value  in  themselves,  the  woes  and  miseries  of 
nearly  forty  thousand  prisoners  are  detailed.  The  dig 
nity  of  the  accounts  of  battles  will  not  be  lessened,  the 
author  believes,  by  giving,  as  one  of  their  results,  the  res 
cuing  of  twenty  thousand  men  from  horrors  that  almost 
unmanned  them,  and  by  adding  that,  although  but  few 
of  them  live,  perhaps  some  may  yet  aid  in  building  up  a 
state  whose  corner-stone  shall  rest  upon  an  active  hu 
manity,  drawn  from  the  lessons  of  its  violation  at  Ander- 
sonville,  and  whose  influence  will  affect  the  future  treat 
ment  of  prisoners  of  war  throughout  the  world. 


ANDERSONVILLE.  87 

But,  aside  from  all  such  excuse,  it  is  enough  to  know 
that  the  government  of  the  United  States  has  not  consid 
ered  it  beneath  its  dignity  to  arraign  the  men  who  were 
guilty  of  the  crimes  which  these  pages  unfold,  and  to 
punish  them  for  their  commission.  The  embodiment  of 
these  offenses,  with  an  attempt  to  smooth  over  their  most 
offensive  features,  is  all  that  has  been  done  in  this  Nar 
rative,  and  the  major  violation  of  humanity  must  be 
merged  into  the  minor  error  of  disclosure  if  it  is  made 
responsible  for  the  horrors  which  it  jecites. 

We  repeat,  then,  that  it  is  with  unaffected  satisfaction 
that  we  are  allowed  to  look  upon  a  fairer  picture  than 
has  yet  been  painted. 

Amid  all  the  destitution  and  neglect  which  character 
ized  this  place,  there  were  some  to  be  found  who  allowed 
the  simple  dictates  of  humanity  to  influence  them  under 
the  restraints  of  military  discipline.  There  were  not 
wanting  in  the  wards  of  the  hospital  a  few  men  whom 
their  profession  as  physicians  had  taught  the  secret  of 
success  in  the  healing  art.  It  has  been  observed  that  or 
ders  were  issued  prohibiting  the  administering  of  com 
forts  of  any  kind  to  the  sick  Union  soldiers.  Whether 
these  orders  came  from  the  commanding  officer  of  the 
post,  or  from  the  chief  medical  director,  Dr.  White,  does 
not  fully  appear  from  the  evidence. 

Every  one,  however,  who  testified  to  this  fact,  and  there 
were  five  who  did  so,  concurs  in  stating  that  such  orders 
were  issued,  and  it  is  unreasonable  to  conclude,  under  all 
the  circumstances  of  delegated  authority  which  marked 
the  management  of  the  prison  and  its  accessories,  that  they 
emanated  from  the  medical  director.  Notwithstanding, 


88  ANDERSONVILLE. 

it  was  not  unusual  for  a  very  few  of  the  surgeons  to  sup 
ply  from  their  own  means  simple  but  grateful  necessaries 
to  the  wretched  patients  under  their  care,  and  thus  to  a 
very  limited  extent,  it  is  true,  afford  some  amelioration 
of  their  extreme  destitution  and  want. 

Conspicuous  among  these  surgeons  was  Dr.  B.  J.  Head, 
of  Americus,  Georgia,  who  had  the  management  of  a  ward 
in  one  of  the  hospitals,  and  who  was  50  horrified  and  dis 
gusted  with  the  filthy  condition  of  his  future  patients, 
that  at  first  he  determined  to  resign  his  post  and  leave, 
rather  than  face  the  misery  and  degradation  that  met  his 
eyes. 

Dr.  Head  was  a  physician  of  many  years'  practice,  and 
it  was  and  is  well  known  that  his  experience  has  brought 
him  among  as  much  suffering  as  generally  falls  to  the  lot 
of  a  medical  practitioner.  He  had  been  conversant  with 
much  that  would  shock  and  repel  one  less  unaccustomed 
than  himself  to  human  misery ;  he  imagined  that  he  had 
sounded  by  professional  familiarity  the  depths  to  which 
repellant  foulness  reached,  and  could  look  unmoved  upon 
human  impurity.  He  overrated  his  powers,  and  was  sat 
isfied,  when  he  entered  these  head-quarters  of  filth,  that 
there  was  yet  something  for  him  to  learn. 

He  reflected  that  by  his  presence  and  influence  he 
might  be  able  to  mitigate  the  sufferings  of  the  wretched 
beings  there,  and  he  remained.  He  carried  from  his 
home  such  food  and  nourishment  as  his  weakened  pa 
tients  could  more  easily  swallow  than  the  coarse  prison 
fare  roughly  given  to  them;  his  basket  was  daily  sup 
plied  with  biscuit  and  light  bread,  tea,  and  rice,  which  he 
distributed  to  the  most  needy  of  his  ward,  as  far  as  they 


ANDERSOXVILLE.  89 

would  go.  During  their  season,  vegetables,  and  especial 
ly  tomatoes,  proved  most  grateful  to  his  scurvy-stricken 
patients,  and  these  he  supplied  as  liberally  as  he  dare, 
with  the  fear  of  positive  orders  against  it  before  his  eyes. 
To  his  everlasting  credit  be  it  said,  Surgeon  E.D.  Eland, 
in  charge  of  the  division,  connived  at  these  violations  of 
orders,  and  winked  at,  if  he  did  not  assist  in,  the  humane 
deceptions  of  Dr.  Head. 

In  all  of  these  kindly  efforts  the  doctor  was  most  cor 
dially  and  zealously  seconded  by  his  good  wife,  whose 
discriminating  judgment  and  willing  assistance  showed 
how  deeply  her  feelings  were  enlisted  in  favor  of  the  un 
fortunate  prisoner-patients.  She  could  not  content  her 
self  with  such  contributions  as  her  own  restricted  means 
permitted,  and  she  was  unwilling  that  the  sweet  solace 
of  knowing  that  humanity  could  be  vindicated  by  wom 
an  should  be  confined  to  her  alone.  She  sought  to  in 
terest  other  ladies  in  the  cause  of  relieving  human  woe, 
and  in  the  contributions  of  such  comforts  as  they  could 
spare  for  the  poor,  naked,  dying  prisoners,  and  she  made 
a  tour  of  the  county,  urging  and  soliciting  their  aidt 

It  need  not  surprise  the  reader  to  learn  that  she  met 
the  usual  difficulties  which  arise  in  the  path  of  the  be 
nevolent  missionary.  But  she  faltered  not  in  her  course, 
and  was  rewarded  by  finding  a  very  few  warm  hearts 
and  ready  sympathies  among  the  women  of  Sumter 
County,  who  eagerly  responded  to  this  call  upon  their 
charities,  while  they  poured  out  their  offerings  into  a 
common  store.  Old  linen,  clothes,  stockings,  were  con 
tributed,  together  with  bread,  tea,  coffee,  and  food,  while 
the  tender-hearted  lady  who  had  inaugurated  the  step 


90  ANDERSONVILLE. 

superintended  their  conveyance  and  distribution  to  the 
objects  for  whom  they  were  intended.  Not  once  only 
was  this  mission  successful,  but  often  were  the  donations 
of  these  few  and  most  excellent  women  transmitted  to 
Andersonville. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  thought  these  acts  do  not  merit  ex 
aggerated  praise ;  for,  although  spontaneous,  they  were 
only  such  evidences  as  were  due  from  womanly  sympa 
thy  for  human  suffering,  and  they  should  be  regarded  as 
but  the  natural  consequences  which  a  recital  of  the  pris 
oners'  condition  would  produce  on  commiserating  hearts. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  many  of  these 
ladies  had  husbands,  and  sons,  and  brothers  in  the  war ; 
that  many  hearts  which  were  melted  to  pity  were  even 
then  bleeding  for  the  loss  of  some  near  and  dear  one ; 
that  often  a  tear  would  steal  forth  from  eyes  already  red 
with  weeping,  and,  gently  trickling  down,  fall  upon  the 
package  that  she  made  up  for  those,  perhaps,  who  had 
caused  her  sorrow. 

It  required  a  moral  courage  on  the  part  of  the  ladies 
concerned  in  this  deed  of  mercy  which  can  not  be  ex 
pressed,  to  fortify  them  to  stem  the  torrent  of  hatred  that 
was  poured  out  against  the  Federal  prisoners  by  nearly 
all  classes,  male  and  female,  and  upon  the  head  and 
against  the  motives  of  their  agent  and  leader  of  benevo 
lence.  Insults  and  aspersions  from  the  proud,  and  arro 
gant,  and  ignorant  of  her  own  sex ;  the  denial  of  the 
commonest  offices  of  humanity,  and  the  refusal  of  the 
most  trifling  articles  which  were  not  needed,  and  could 
not  be  consumed  by  the  owner;  the  being  told  that 
vegetables  should  rot  upon  the  vines  before  they  should 


ANDERSONVILLE.  91 

go  to  the  solace  of  a  dying  prisoner,  were  not  'uncommon 
returns  for  efforts  in  their  behalf. 

And  so,  without  exaggerating  the  virtues  that  shone  so 
brightly  forth  in  these  acts,  prominence  is  given  to  their 
insertion,  and  it  is  believed  that  they  will  be  regarded  as 
the  brightest  beams  that  have  been  shed  upon  this  other 
wise  dark  picture. 

It  was  at  least  due  to  that  loyalty  to  humanity,  which 
is  an  ever-present  excellence  in  woman  every  where,  to 
show  that  it  did  not  fail  them  at  a  period  and  under  cir 
cumstances  when  its  non-observance  could  well  have 
been  excused. 

Considerable  circumspection  had  to  be  observed  in 
transmitting  the  articles  thus  collected  to  the  intended 
recipients,  and  negroes  were  generally  made  the  medium 
of  conveyance.  These  could  pass  with  their  baskets  with 
out  challenging  much  suspicion  from  the  guards  or  scru 
tiny  from  officious  officers,  and  thus  the  stores  reached 
their  destination. 

One  negro  man  was  conspicuous  in  the  assistance  which 
he  rendered.  He  had  been  in  the  hospital  before  with 
his  master  the  doctor,  and  with  him  had  been  horrified 
at  the  sights  which  there  met  his  eyes.  His  simple  ac 
count  of  one  visit  that  he  made  with  a  basketful  of  com 
forts  contains  in  itself  all  that  is  needed  to  convey  an 
idea  of  the  misery  and  destitution  that  characterized  the 
place. 

"  My  God !"  said  he,  and  the  tears  stood  in  his  eyes  as 
he  said  it,  "I  never  thought  to  see  a  white  man  so  low 
down  as  those  there.  Why,  sir,  there  was  one  whose 
bones  were  through  his  skin,  and  he  was  lying  right  on 


92  ANDERSONVILLE. 

the  bare  ground  I  Yes,  sir,  he'd  made  a  hole  where  he'd 

turned  and  rolled There  were  two  holes,  sir,  just 

so  he  could  roll  on  to  one  and  off  into  the  other 

He  didn't  have  more  than  a  rag  on  him ;  and  as  for  the 
lice  ....  When  I  give  'em  what  I  had  in  the  basket, 
and  after  they'd  ate  it  all,  one  got  down  on  the  ground 
and  picked  up  what  was  scattered,  like  a  dog !" 

At  length  the  Eev.  Mr.  Davies  saw  General  Winder, 
and  told  him  what  some  of  the  ladies  of  the  county  had 
done  and  what  they  wished  to  continue  doing,  and  Win 
der  apparently  entered  cordially  into  their  views,  and 
gave  his  consent  that  provisions  and  clothes  could  be 
sent  to  the  hospital  patients.  Two  lots  were  sent  and 
distributed,  and  active  exertions  were  made  by  the  few 
ladies  before  referred  to  to  prepare  another  and  a  larger 
supply.  A  third  stock  was  accumulated,  and  several 
ladies,  with  three  gentlemen,  proceeded  up  to  Anderson- 
ville  with  them  to  superintend  their  proper  distribution. 
The  gentlemen  were  Dr.  B.  J.  Head,  Messrs.  Stephen 
Daniels,  and  Wills  C.  Godwin.  The  last  named  had  been 
particularly  requested  by  the  doctor  to  accompany  him. 

When  they  reached  the  post,  the  supplies  were  left  in 
the  charge  of  Mr.  Daniels  to  be  unloaded,  while  the  doc 
tor  and  Mr.  Godwin  proceeded  to  the  office  of  the  provost 
marshal  for  a  permit  to  carry  the  things  through  the  line 
of  sentinels.  With  an  oath,  Lieutenant  Keed,  the  provost, 
swore  "  he  would  give  no  pass  for  any  such  d — d  traitor 
ous  purpose."  He  was  told  that  it  was  by  authority  of 
General  Winder.  "I  don't  believe  it,"  said  he;  "he's 
not  such  a  d — d  fool  as  that."  Sitting  in  his  office  were 
several  rebel  officers  unconnected  with  the  post — some 


ANDEKSONVILLE.  93 

prisoners  of  war  on  parole.  One  of  these  swore  that  the 
doctor  "  ought  to  be  hung  for  his  Yankee  sympathies, 
and  he  was  ready  to  put  the  rope  on  his  neck  then  and 
there."  Another  threatened  to  shoot  him,  as  "  he  was  no 
better  than  a  Yankee." 

Driven  from  the  offices  by  such  and  other  menaces, 
he  proceeded  to  General  Winder's  quarters,  and  stated  to 
him  his  object  and  that  of  the  ladies,  and  requested  a  pass 
to  take  the  things  to  the  Federal  hospital. 

"  I'll  see  you  in  hell  first !"  returned  the  general.  "You 
are  a  d — d  Yankee  sympathizer,  and  all  those  connected 
with  you." 

"You  are  mistaken,  general,"  said  the  doctor.  "You 
know  that  /  am  no  Yankee  sympathizer,  sir.  I  do  sym 
pathize  with  suffering  humanity,  and  this  is  a  mission  of 
mercy." 

"  God  d — n  your  mission  of  mercy  !"  cried  the  general. 
"I  wish  that  you  and  every  other  d — d  Yankee  sympa 
thizer,  and  every  G — d  d — d  Yankee  too,  were  all  in  hell 
together!" 

"But,  general,"  rejoined  the  doctor,  "we  are  here  by 
your  express  permission  given  to  Mr.  Davies." 

"It's  a  d — d  lie!"  replied  he.  "I  never  gave  him  or 

any  one  else  permission  to  keep  the  d — d from 

starving,  and  rotting  too,  if  they  choose." 

"  Well,  general,  will  you  allow  the  provisions  to  go  in 
this  time,  now  that  they  are  up  here?" 

"No, by  God!  not  the  first  d — d  morsel  shall  go  in," 
returned  the  general. 

At  this  moment  the  little  provost  marshal,  Reed,  en 
tered  the  office  hastily,  and  said, 


94  ANDERSONVILLE. 

"  General,  give  me  an  order  to  have  these  goods  con 
fiscated?" 

"  I  don't  think  I've  got  the  power  to  do  that,  Eeed," 
replied  he,  "but  I  have  got  the  power  to  prevent  the 
d — d  Yankees  from  having  them,  and,  by  God !  they 
sha'n't." 

Seeing  that  he  could  not  procure  the  requisite  pass, 
and  fearing,  from  the  threatening  language  of  Winder, 
the  scorching  looks  and  oaths  of  other  officers,  that  the 
ladies  and  himself  might  be  subjected  to  personal  re 
straint,  if  not  to  personal  abuse,  he  reluctantly  advised 
them  to  give  up  the  attempt  and  to  return  home,  which 
they  did. 

The  load  of  necessaries  which  was  carried  up  on  this 
occasion  filled  a  four-mule  wagon.  They  were  taken  and 
used  at  the  post. 

The  above-detailed  conversation  took  place  in  the  hear 
ing  of  the  ladies,  whose  presence  and  whose  mission  failed 
to  restrain  the  blasphemy  of  Winder  or  the  curses  of  his 
officers.  It  has  been  copied  from  the  evidence,  and  is 
only  given  in  its  detailed  deformity  that  the  world  can 
judge  of  what  is  requisite  to  constitute  a  good  and  well- 
qualified  church-warden,  as  well  as  what  does  not  make 
a  gentleman. 

After  such  a  repulse,  it  is  not  surprising  that  these 
kind-hearted  women  ceased  in  their  efforts  to  mitigate 
the  sufferings  of  the  patients,  or  were  unwilling  to  ex 
pose  themselves  to  another  so  gross  affront.  The  few 
comforts  which  could  and  would  have  been  supplied  to 
the  suffering  ones  there  were  thus  ruthlessly  denied  them, 
and  the  fiat  had  gone  forth  that  this  receptacle,  where 


ANDEESONVILLE.  95 

no  feeling  or  act  of  humanity  was  permitted  to  enter, 
over  which  the  dark  wings  of  Azrael  were  brooding  and 
shading  with  death,  was  to  be  left  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  those  who  knew  not  what  fellow-feeling  was. 

It  was  shown  by  Wirz  upon  his  trial  that  during  the 
month  of  August  he  was  sick  and  not  in  command  of 
this  prison ;  that  its  temporary  charge  was  turned  over 
to  one  Davis,  and  for  this  period  he  could  not  be  made 
responsible  for  what  occurred  there.  But  it  appears  from 
an  official  report  made  by  Wirz  himself  for  this  month 
to  Winder,  and  having  the  indorsement  of  the  latter 
upon  it,  that  "the  aggregate  of  prisoners  at  that  time  was 
thirty-four  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty,  out  of  which 
number  two  thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety -three  died 
witliin  the  month,  and  twenty-five  escaped  prisoners  were 
taken  up  by  the  dogs.11  From  his  own  showing,  he  re 
buts  the  evidence  which  he  introduced  to  exculpate  him 
self  from  the  terrible  mortality  of  this  period,  and  it  is 
well  that  there  is  corroborative  evidence,  derived  from 
the  principals  themselves,  to  substantiate  what  otherwise 
human  credence  would  be  slow  to  receive. 

By  dividing  the  number  of  deaths  by  the  days  in  this 
month,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  incredible  number  of  sev 
enty-four  victims  of  relentless  cruelty  passed  away  each 
day,  or  nearly  two  every  hour !  It  might  be  imagined 
that  a  benevolent  desire  to  mitigate  human  suffering,  re 
spect  for  one's  own  self,  a  regard  for  the  ultimate  verdict 
of  his  fellow-men,  and  for  the  mighty  account  hereafter 
to  be  rendered,  would  have  stayed  this  horrible  mortali 
ty,  and  have  shut  down  the  flood-gates  of  destruction  to 
arrest  the  torrent  which  was  sweeping  the  hospitals  at 


96  ANDERSONVILLE. 

such  tremendous  rate.  We  have  placed  before  the  read 
er  one  series  of  efforts  made  by  disinterested  persons  to 
stop  this  flow  of  death ;  let  us  turn  to  another  attempt 
made  by  a  single  individual. 

After  relinquishing,  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  to  his 
successor,  General  Winder,  the  command  of  the  post,  Col 
onel  A.  W.  Persons  had  been  isolated  from  any  interest 
in  its  management.  But  the  complaints  of  residents  near 
the  place  of  the  effluvium  which  was  wafted  in  every  di 
rection  from  it,  threatening  pestilence  through  the  infect 
ed  air,  whose  taint  could  be  perceived  for  two  miles,  and 
the  reports  which  were  current  through  the  country  of 
the  destitution  and  death  which  reigned  there,  attracted 
Colonel  Persons's  attention.  His  inquiries  resulted  in  ap 
plying  for  and  obtaining  from  the  judge  of  the  South 
western  Circuit  an  injunction  at  law  against  the  Ander- 
sonville  stockade  and  burying-ground  as  a  public  nuis 
ance.  He  was,  however,  kindly  warned  by  the  judge  of 
the  consequences  which  would  accrue  to  him  personally 
if  he  persisted  in  demanding  an  inquiry  and  hearing. 

The  storm  of  abuse,  the  danger  to  which  he  would  be 
exposed,  not  only  from  those  officially  connected  with  the 
prison,  but  from  the  people  of  the  country,  induced  him 
•to  pause  in  his  humane  effort,  and  finally  to  withdraw 
his  proceeding.  He  very  properly  considered  that  one 
person  alone  would  be  quickly  swept  away  by  the  hur 
ricane  of  wrath  which  would  be  raised  against  him,  and 
he  would  not  have  the  poor  consolation  of  feeling  that  he 
had  stirred  even  the  surface  of  public  sentiment  in  his 
vain  attempt  to  point  the  finger  of  justice.  He  desisted, 
but  his  motion  produced  some  results,  which  will  be  de- 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  97 

tailed  in  a  subsequent  chapter.  And  he  might  well  pause 
and  reflect  before  he  entered  upon  the  Herculean  task  of 
cleaning  out  such  an  Augean  den ! 

The  burying-ground,  to  which  a  slight  reference  has 
been  made,  was  probably  the  most  horrible  place  under 
that  name  which  can  be  well  conceived.  The  corpses  of 
the  dead  were  not  buried ;  they  were  only  slightly  cov 
ered  with  loose  dirt,  quick-lime  having  been  previously 
scattered  over  them  to  insure  more  rapid  decomposition. 
On  any  day  the  curious  visitor  to  this  necropolis  could 
be  satisfied  how  little  was  required  to  dispose  of  a  mortal 
man  after  his  spirit  had  left  his  body. 

The  trenches  into  which  the  remains  were  cast  were 
dug  not  more  than  three  feet  deep,  frequently  not  more 
than  two,  and  were  in  long  lines  parallel  to  each  other. 
Into  these  were  thrown  the  bodies  of  the  Federal  soldiers 
— no  box  or  coffin  was  permitted — no  decent  shrouding 
even  in  the  ragged  blanket  was  allowed.  The  clead-wag- 
on,  drawn  by  four  horses,  went  constantly  back  and  forth 
from  the  hospital  to  the  trenches  bearing  its  load  of  death, 
and  supervised  by  negroes.  When  about  twenty  feet  of 
mortality  was  huddled  side  to  side,  lime  was  scattered 
upon  the  bodies,  and  the  earth  carelessly  thrown  over  all. 
A  few  days  of  rain,  or  the  depredations  of  animals,  would 
here  and  there  have  exposed  some  luckless  limb,  or  arm, 
or  head  of  the  dead  ones,  and,  as  the  torrid  heats  of  the 
summer  suns  poured  down  their  decaying  powers,  a  taint 
and  effluvium  of  corruption  would  pervade  the  atmos 
phere  for  miles  around. 

Here,  over  this  ghastly  spot,  could  be  seen  at  almost 
any  time  countless  hosts  of  sluggish  buzzards,  now  pois- 

E 


98  ANDEKSONVILLE. 

ing  themselves  on  untiring  wing,  now  slowly  hovering 
over  and  looking  down  upon  the  festering  heaps  which 
invited  to  their  horrid  repasts,  as,  blackening  the  dead 
limbs  of  some  distant  tree,  they  sat  and  regaled  their 
sight  with  what  their  gloated  appetites  had  already  feast 
ed  on.  And  the  legs,  and  arms,  and  skulls,  which  could 
be  seen  protruding  all  over  this  vast  grave,  were  the  only 
signal-marks  of  the  last  resting-places  of  an  army  of  mar 
tyrs. 

On  the  first  day  of  September  there  had  been  deposited 
in  this  necropolis  nine  thousand  two  hundred  and  eighty 
human  bodies ! 


ANDEESONVILLE.  99 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Effect  of  the  Injunction. — Commission  to  examine  the  Hospitals. — Re 
port. —  Counter-testimony.  —  Cumulative  Evidence.  — Poisonous  vac 
cine  Matter. — Stimulants. — Provisions. 

INFORMATION  had  been  conveyed  to  Ilowell  Cobb  at 
Macon,  then  in  command  of  the  Military  District  of  Geor 
gia,  of  the  movement  made  by  Colonel  Persons  as  to  the 
injunction  against  Andersonville  as  a  public  nuisance. 
Complaints  had  also  been  forwarded  to  the  authorities  at 
Richmond,  which  contained  general  but  correct  state 
ments  of  the  desolation  which  Winder  and  Wirz  were 
creating.  Rumors  throughout  the  country  gave  currency 
to  the  extent  of  the  suffering  of  the  hordes  of  prisoners 
there  confined,  and,  in  some  cases,  newspapers  in  the  vi 
cinity  heralded,  some  with  boastful  pride,  others  with 
reprehension,  the  enormous  mortality  which  was  daily 
occurring  there. 

One  commissioner  had  been  sent  by  the  War  Office  at 
Richmond  to  examine  into  and  report  the  condition  and 
treatment  of  the  prisoners.  Another  was  about  to  start, 
under  orders  from  General  Cobb,  to  examine  into  the  ar 
rangements  of  the  hospitals,  and  the  provision  made  for 
the  care  of  the  patients  therein.  Many  circumstances  co 
operated  to  force  this  display  of  regard  to  the  welfare  of 
the  prisoners  upon  the  officials  most  remote  from  the 
scene,  and  spurred  up  the  lagging  carelessness  which 
characterized  the  general  conduct  of  the  rebellion. 


100  ANDERSONVILLE. 

But  the  general  in  command  of  the  military  district 
within  whose  limits  the  prison  was  situated  knew  that  he 
would  be  held  responsible  for  the  mismanagement,  cor 
ruption,  and  desolation  which  were  being  enacted  within 
sixty  miles  of  his  head-quarters.  The  complaints  of  the 
prisoners  had  reached  him  through  unofficial  sources,  and 
the  reports  which  daily  came  to  his  notice  advised  him 
of  gross  wrong  at  this  point ;  and,  it  may  be  added,  his 
own  eyes,  from  constant  passing  in  view  of  the  stockade, 
forced  upon  him  the  necessity  of  at  least  making  a  show 
of  remedying  the  abuses  which  prevailed  there. 

He  appointed  one  of  his  staff,  with  orders  to  proceed 
to  Andersonville  and  examine  into  the  condition  of  the 
hospitals,  and  report  to  him  the  result.  What  that  report 
was  can  not  now  be  ascertained,  but  the  conclusions  which 
the  commanding  general  drew  from  it  are  before  us  in  his 
own  report  to  the  authorities  at  Eichmond. 

He  states  that  he  had  sent  Surgeon  Eldridge,  of  his 
staff,  to  make  an  examination  of  the  condition  of  the  hos 
pitals  at  Andersonville,  and  from  his  report  he  is  satis 
fied  that  every  thing  has  been  accomplished  which  could 
be  done  for  the  comfort  and  medical  care  of  the  prison 
ers;  that  nothing  is  required  more  than  has  been  pro 
vided  for  the  treatment  of  patients ;  and  that  the  medical 
director  deserves  especial  thanks  for  the  energy  he  has 
displayed  in  organizing  and  providing  the  necessary 
requisites  of  medicines  and  hospital  essentials. 

At  the  very  time  this  examiner  was  discharging  his 
important  duty,  the  following  daily  report  was  made  by 
a  surgeon  in  this  same  hospital : 


ANDERSONVILLE.  101 

"First  Division  C.  S.  M.  P.  Hospital,) 

September  5, 1864  > 

"Sin, — As  officer  of  the  day  for  the  past  twenty -four 
hours,  I  have  inspected  the  hospital,  and  find  it  in  as  good 
condition  as  the  nature  of  the  circumstances  will  allow. 
%A  large  majority  of  the  bunks  are  still  unsupplied  with 
bedding,  while  in  a  portion  of  the  division  the  tents  are  en 
tirely  destitute  of  either  bunks,  bedding,  or  straw,  the  patients 
being  compelled  to  lie  upon  the  bare  ground.  I  would  earn 
estly  call  your  attention  to  the  article  of  diet ;  the  corn- 
bread  received  from  the  bakery,  being  made  up  of  corn 
and  cow-peas  without  sifting,  is  wholly  unfit  for  the  sick, 
and  often,  as  in  the  last  twenty-four  hours,  upon  exam 
ination,  the  inner  portion  is  found  to  be  entirely  raw. 
The  meat  (beef)  received  by  the  patients  does  not  amount 
to  over  two  ounces  a  day  ;  and  for  the  past  three  or  four 
days  no  flour  has  been  issued.  The  corn-bread  can  not 
be  eaten  by  many,  for  to  do  so  would  be  to  increase  the 
diseases  of  the  bowels  from  which  a  large  majority  are 
suffering,  and  it  is  therefore  thrown  away.  All  their  ra 
tions  received  by  way  of  sustenance  is  two  ounces  of  boiled 
beef  and  the  soup  from  it  per  day.  Under  these  circum 
stances,  all  the  skill  that  can  be  brought  to  bear  upon 
their  cases  by  the  medical  officer  will  avail  nothing. 

"Another  point  to  which  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  call 
your  attention  is  the  deficiency  of  medicines.  We  have 
but  little  more  than  the  indigenous  barks  and  roots  with 
which  to  treat  the  numerous  forms  of  disease  to  which 
our  attention  is  daily  called.  For  the  treatment  of 
wounds,  ulcers,  etc.,  we  have  literally  nothing  except 
water.  Our  wards,  some  of  them,  are  wild  with  gan- 


102  ANDERSONVILLE. 

grene,  and  we  are  compelled  to  fold  our  arms  and  look 
quietly  upon  its  ravages,  not  even  having  stimulants  to 
support  the  system  under  its  depressing  influence,  the 
article  being  so  limited  in  supply  that  it  can  only  be  issued 
for  cases  under  the  knife.  I  would  respectfully  call  your 
earnest  attention  to  the  above  facts,  in_the_hope  that, 
something  may  be  done  to  alleviate  the  suffering  of  the 
sjck. 

"  I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 
"  J.  CREWS  PILOT,  Asst.  Surgeon  P.  A.C.S., 
and  Officer  of  the  Day. 

"To  Surgeon  E.  D.  ELAND,  in  charge  of  First  1 
Division  C.  S.  M.  P.  Hospital."  $ 

To  this  may  be  appended  the  statement  of  Dr.  W.  A. 
Barnes : 

^  In  the  month  of  August  and  September  there  were 
over  three  thousand  patients  lying  upon  the  ground,  par 
tially  naked ;  some  had  broken  limbs  and  gangrene,  scur 
vy,  and  chronic  diarrhoea.  That  the  matter  used  for 
vaccinations  was  poisonous^  and  amputations  almost  in 
variably  resulted  from  its  use ;  and  although  freely  and 
constantly  used  in  the  prison  hospitals  and  in  the  prison, 
it  was  enjoined  upon  surgeons  to  apply  for  other  matter 
when  Confederate  soldiers  were  to  be  treated.  Green 
corn,  which,  was  an  anti-scorbutic,  was  taken  away  from 
the  patients  and  prisoners,  the  latter  of  whom  were  ar 
rested  and  severely  punished  for  buying  it.  In  regard 
to  '  stimulants  to  support  the  system,'  there  were  in  Sep 
tember  forty-three  barrels  of  whisky  under  the  order  of 
the  medical  director  and  intended  for  hospital  uses,  but 
it  was  reported  that  visitors  to  Drs.  White  and  Stevenson 


ANDERSONVILLE.  103 

had  all  that  they  did  not  drink  themselves.  The  greatest 
number  of  deaths  in  any  one  day  was  in  August — they 
were  two  hundred  and  seven,  or  more  than  eight  and  a  half 
each  hour  of  the  day.  With  proper  care,  from  70  to  80 
per  cent,  of  the  deaths  might  have  been  prevented !" 

Dr.  Eoy  also  testifies  to  entire  neglect  in  providing 
medicines,  and  said  "  that,  with  the  exception  of  very  rare 
articles,  there  was  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  medicines." 

Dr.  Head  gave  the  same  testimony,  and  said :  "  I  found 
the  diseases  in  the  hospital  to  result  more  from  inatten 
tion  and  improper  diet  than  any  thing  else.  When  I 
first  went  on  duty  there  I  made  a  thorough  diagnosis  of 
all  the  cases  in  my  ward,  and  wrote  out  my  prescriptions 
for  them,  but  I  did  not  obtain  the  medicines  I  ordered. 
When  I  inquired  into  the  reason  for  this  neglect,  I  was 
told  that  I  must  go  according  to  a  prescribed  formula, 
and  ask  only  for  such  medicines  as  certain  numbers  in 
dicated  for  a  specified  disease.  For  instance,  I  must  put 
down,  for  gangrene,  No.  10 ;  diarrhoea,  No.  3,  etc.  This  I 
considered  as  taking  away  all  discretion  from  the  phy- 
sician,  and  leaving  it  in  the  power  of  the  medical  direct 
or,  who  arranged  the  system  of  practice  to  have  given 
bread-pills  or  poison,  as  he  might  choose  ;  the  ward  phy 
sician  only  reporting  the  disease,  and  the  director  pre 
scribing  for  it,  but  the  physician  who  administered  could 
not  know  what  he  gave.  Any  body  could  practice  with 
that  formula  before  him,  even  if  he  had  never  seen  a 
medical  book,  and  I  consequently  refused  to  comply  with 
the  instructions/  For  the  want  of  medicines,  I  had  fre 
quently  to  prescribe  red-oak  bark,  and  such  other  barks 
as  could  be  got  out  of  the  woods.  Patients  died  for  the 


104  ANDERSONVILLE. 

want  of  stimulants,  and  the  suffering  there  was  well 
known  throughout  the  state." 

Dr.  Thornburg,  another  surgeon  on  duty  in  the  hos 
pital,  coincided  in  his  testimony  with  the  other  phy 
sicians,  but  went  somewhat  more  into  details  respecting 
the  stimulants,  saying  that  "the  whisky  was  drank  by  the 
medical  director  and  his  friends ;  and  Dr.  Stevenson  was 
reported  as  having  embezzled  the  money  sent  for  the  pa 
tients  and  the  hospital  fund  to  the  amount  of  nearly 
eighty  thousand  dollars"  "  The  condition  of  the  hospitals 
was  horrible,  and  the  patients  were  in  as  filthy  a  state  as 
they  could  well  be." 

All  these  things,  it  must  be  remembered,  were  trans 
piring  at  the  time  of  the  examination  ordered  by  General 
Cobb,  and  who  reported,  from  the  information  given  him 
by  his  "  examiner"  that  nothing  was  required  there ! 

Connected  with  the  question  of  stimulants,  so  much 
needed  in  the  treatment  of  gangrenous  cases,  we  refer  to 
the  evidence  of  Benjamin  B.  Dykes,  who  was  the  rail 
road  agent  at  Andersonville  during  the  year  1864,  and 
had  been  since  1861.  He  had  his  railroad  books  with 
him,  which  contained  the  original  entries  from  the  freight 
lists  of  goods  and  stores  unloaded  at  his  depot. 

In  the  month  of  July  there  were  sixty -four  barrels  of 
whisky  left  at  his  agency,  of  which  forty-three  were  for 
the  medical  director.  In  August  there  were  ninety-six 
barrels,  sixty  of  which  went  to  Dr.  White  for  hospital 
use.  In  September  there  were  thirty-six  barrels,  all  for 
the  hospital.  Here,  then,  in  three  months  only,  there 
were  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  barrels  of  this  so-much- 
called-for  stimulant  deposited  in  the  hands  of  the  medical 


ANDERSONVILLE.  105 

director  for  the  necessities  of  the  hospital.  What  became 
of  this  five  thousand  gallons  of  stimulant  ?  The  answer 
is  to  be  sought  in  the  testimony  of  the  respectable  phy 
sicians,  who  suspected  or  knew  where  it  went — down  the 
throats  of  Dr.  White  and  his  friends^, 

Eeferring  back  to  Dr.  Pilot's  daily  report  to  inquire 
whether  it  was  impossible  to  supply  proper  food  for  the 
patients  in  those  wards  which  he  tersely  characterizes  as 
"wild  with  gangrene,"  we  take  the  testimony  of  Uriah 
B.  Harrold,  a  commissary  of  the  Confederate  government 
stationed  at  Americas,  and  who  was  in  court  with  his 
"  abstracts  of  shipments  of  provisions  to  Anderson ville," 
on  the  requisition  of  the  proper  authorities  there. 

In  the  month  of  July  he  shipped  to  that  place  as  follows : 


Bacon 102,000  Ibs. 

Meal G3,000  bush. 

Flour 1,200  sacks. 

In  August: 

Bacon 113,000  Ibs. 

Meal 90,000  bush. 

Flour 1,000  sacks. 

In  September : 

Bacon 124,000  Ibs. 

Meal 70,000  bush. 

Flour 1,500  sacks. 


Rice 14,000  Ibs. 

Sirup 94  bbls. 

Whisky 15     " 


Rice 10,000  Ibs. 

Sirup 131  bbls. 

Whisky 20     " 


Rice G,000  Ibs. 

Sirup 150  bbls. 

Whisky 30     " 


These  shipments  were  made  by  but  one  commissary,  it 
will  be  remembered,  while  there  were  fifty  others  to  an 
swer  any  requisitions  upon  them  from  the  officials  at  An- 
dersonville  for  the  supply  of  that  post  and  prison.  The 
commissary  stores  at  Albany,  fifty  miles  from  Anderson- 
ville,  it  was  shown,  were  much  larger  than  at  Americus, 
and  the  warehouses  there  were  literally  breaking  down 

E2 


106  ANDERSONVILLE. 

from  the  weight  and  quantity  of  stores  assembled  there. 
The  commissaries  at  other  points,  near  and  easily  accessi 
ble  to  Andersonville,  were  continually  sending  supplies 
to  that  point,  as'the  requisitions  were  made  upon  them. 

The  stores  shipped  from  Americus  alone  will  be  seen 
to  have  been  amply  sufficient  for  the  alleviation  of  that 
want  which  all  of  the  surgeons  were  daily  deploring,  if 
they  had  been  properly  applied  to  the  purposes  for  which 
they  were  intended.  Tl;e  article  of  rice  amounted  to 
thirty  thousand  pounds  in  ninety  days,  or  more  than 
three  hundred  pounds  for  each  day  ;  the  flour,  estimating 
the  three  thousand  seven,  hundred  sacks  at  fifty  pounds 
each,  would  make  over  two  thousand  pounds  for  each 
day  for  the  same  period ;  the  sirup,  rating  the  three 
hundred  and  seventy-five  barrels  at  forty  gallons  each, 
would  have  afforded  more  than  twenty  pints  per  day ; 
and  the  whisky  would  give  more  than  three  hundred 
pints  per  day  for  the  use  of  the  patients  in  the  hospitals. 

From  these  facts  it  may  fairly  be  gathered  that  there 
was  no  want  of  supplies  in  the  country ;  and  the  ques 
tion  arises,  What  was  done  with  those  that  were  sent  to 
Andersonville?  The  testimony  of  Dykes  will  go  far  to 
clear  up  one  branch  of  this  inquiry.  He  said  that  "  he 
knew  James  W.  Duncan,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  bak 
ery  and  cook-house,  and  who  was  also  a  detective  under 
Winder.  He  offered  to  sell  me  some  sirup,  ten  barrels 
at  one  time,  and  said  that  Bowers,  another  detective,  would 
show  it  or  bring  it  to  me.  He  told  me  that  he  had  a 
large  lot  of  flour  which  he  wanted  me  to  sell  for  him." 

The  question  very  naturally  arises  why  the  person 
sent  by  General  Cobb  to  "  inquire  into  the  condition  and 


ANDERSONVILLE.  107 

treatment  of  the  patients"  in  this  hospital  did  not  per 
form  his  duty,  and  ascertain  from  the  means  within  his 
reach  facts  so  accessible  ?  If  stimulants  were  ^required, 
why  did  he  not  ask  the  simple  question  if  a  requisition 
had  been  made  for  them?  He  very  well  knew  that  there 
were  five  distilleries  in  the  county  of  Sumter  alone,  work 
ing  under  special  contract  with  the  government,  a  por 
tion  of  whose  produce  must  go  to  its  agents,  to  be  dealt 
out,  on  requisition,  for  hospital  purposes.  If  the  requi 
sition  had  or  had  not  been  complied  with,  it  was  his  duty 
to  have  reported  the  fact  to  his  superior.  In  the  same 
way  he  could  have  ascertained  why  no  flour,  or  rice,  or 
sirup  was  provided,  for  the  means  of  doing  so  were  with 
in  reach,  and  his  duty  was  plain. 

The  truth  is,  that  during  the  whole  rebellion,  self-in 
terest  and  self-aggrandizement,  with  a  proportional  dis 
play  of  official  consequence,  shining  in  buttons  and  lace, 
or  riding  on  blooded  horses,  monopolized  the  time  and 
thoughts  of  most  of  those  in  authority,  and  especially 
those  who  were  removed  from  the  dangers  of  the  front. 

The  starvation,  the  suffering,  hideous,  horrible  enough 
to  awaken  a  cry  that  reached  from  one  end  of  the  Con 
federacy  to  the  other,  was  not  sufficient  to  turn  from  friv 
olous  pleasure  those  to  whom  important  interests  had 
been  committed,  and  whose  duties,  properly  performed, 
might  have  mitigated  the  horrors  which  will  always  rest 
upon  the  civilization  of  the  country  as  one  of  the  foulest 
blots  that  history  records. 

Favoritism,  nepotism,  every  influence  that  could  be 
brought  to  bear  to  advance  personal  interests,  were  ram 
pant,  while  due  performance  of  duty  was  the  exception  to 


108  ANDERSONVILLE. 

the  reigning  rule.  "While  men  rotted  with  gangrene,  the 
surgeon^  was  drinking  the  whisky  intended  to  keep  up 
life ;  while  the  scurvy  loosened  the  teeth  and  decayed 
the  bones  of  its  victim,  the  rice  and  flour  provided  for 
his  nourishment  were  made  up  into  puddings  for  the 
delectation  of  the  surgeon's  visitors ;  and  when  a  cooling 
food  or  drink  was  needed  for  the  fevered  patient,  the 
baker  was  engaged  in  selling  the  sirup  which  would 
have  afforded  it. 

And  so,  robbed,  starved,  polluted  by  disease,  denied 
even  straw  to  lie  upon,  rolling  in  a  filth  which  was  re 
pugnant  even  to  a  negro's  notions  of  cleanliness — after 
due  examination  of  such  patients  and  their  condition,  the 
commanding  general  of  the  district  reported,  from  in 
formation  of  one  of  his  subordinates,  that  every  thing 
had  been  accomplished  which  could  be  done  for  the 
comfort  and  medical  care  of  the  prisoners — that  nothing 
is  required  more  than  has  been  provided  for  the  treat 
ment  of  patients,  and  that  the  medical  director  deserves 
especial  thanks  for  the  energy  he  has  displayed  in  organ 
izing  and  providing  the  necessary  requisites  of  medicines 
and  hospital  essentials ! 

After  this,  what  could  be  done  for  the  wretched  vic 
tims  of  a  policy  which  seemed  premeditated,  and  which, 
if  continued,  would  make  corpses  of  the  last  one  of  them? 

And  this  place,  where  sick  and  wounded  men  festered 
in  their  filth  and  degradation,  was  to  be  continued  in  the 
condition  and  under  the  auspices  it  was,  and  the  whisky 
was  to  be  drank,  the  money  embezzled,  the  rice  and  flour 
to  be  made  into  puddings,  and  the  sirup  sold,  to  the  ever 
lasting  shame  of  those  concerned,  and  to  the  detriment  of 
the  fair  fame  of  the  South,  its  chivalry  and  its  humanity. 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  109 


CHAPTEE  X. 

i 

Wirz's  Shooting,  Beating,  and  Stamping. — Starvation. — Duncan. — Story 
of  Stewart. — Twenty-fourth  New  York  Battery. — Exchanging  Meat. 
— Did  the  Confederate  Government  know  of  these  Things  ? — Proof. 

MEANWHILE  the  crowds  within  the  stockade  had  at 
tained  the  highest  limits  as  to  numbers  which  was  reached 
during  its  continuance,  there  being  in  the  month  of  Sep 
tember  thirty-six  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty  in 
all.  With  this  increase  there  was  a  corresponding  aug 
mentation  of  their  sufferings.  The  rains  of  the  autumn 
season,  together  with  the  constant  tread  of  so  many 
men,  converted  the  interior  at  times  into  one  vast  bed  of 
muddy  slush  nearly  a  foot  deep — an  aggregation  of  semi- 
liquid  filth,  through  which  the  miserable  prisoners  un 
ceasingly  tramped  in  their  unvarying  round  of  pointless 
existence.  Then  for  some  days  the  hot  sun  would  pour 
down  upon  this  quagmire,  feculent  with  putrefaction, 
and  draw  from  its  depths  vapors  saturated  with  the  fetid 
stench  that  it  exhaled,  and  which  corrupted  the  air  they 
had  to  inhale. 

With  their  faces  begrimed  with  smoke  and  dirt,  their 
clothes  in  tatters  and  impregnated  with  vermin,  shoeless 
and  hatless,  now  up  to  their  knees  in  mud,  then  breathing 
the  pestilential  atmosphere  which  a  September  sun  had 
evoked,  the  wonder  is  that  human  nature  did  not  suc 
cumb  more  rapidly  and  in  greater  numbers  than  the  irre 
sponsible  death-registers  indicated. 


110  ANDERSONVILLE. 

As  if  all  this  combination  of  miseries  for  the  extirpa 
tion  of  human  life  would  not  suffice,  Wirz  personally 
aided  in  the  dispatch  of  his  victims  with  other  means. 

Thomas  C.  Alcock  testifies  that  u  on  one  occasion  a 
sick  man  asked  Captain  Wirz  to  let  him  go  outside  for 
some  fresh  air.  Wirz  inquired  what  he  meant.  Then 
turning  round  and  saying  to  him,  'Any  air  is  too  good 
for  a  d — d  Yankee,'  pulled  out  his  revolver  and  shot 
him  down.  The  man  died  in  two  hours  afterward,  and 
he  spoke  in  condemnation  of  this  act  to  Wirz,  who  told 
him  '  he  would  put  him  in  the  same  fix ;'  he  replied  that 
he  was  not  afraid  of  it.  Wirz  then  called  a  corporal  and 
two  guards,  who  put  a  ball  and  chain  upon  him.  The 
man  who  was  shot  was  named  Wright,  and  belonged  to 
the  Eighth  Missouri." 

James  H.  Davidson  also  saw  this  deed.  He  says  that 
"  Wright  was  sick,  and  lying  upon  the  ground.  He  asked 
Wirz  to  let  him  go  out  for  some  purpose,  when  Wirz 
cursed  him  and  shot  him  with  his  revolver,  and  said  '  he 
was  killing  more  Yankees  at  Anderson ville  than  Lee  was 
at  Richmond.1 " 

Who  that  witnessed  it  will  ever  forget  the  scene  which 
was  enacted  in  the  Court  of  the  Military  Commission 
when  a  citizen  was  examined  in  relation  to  the  shooting 
of  a  prisoner  at  the  dead-house  on  the  outside  of  the 
stockade  ?  This  witness  had  been  sent  on  to  Washington 
by  General  Thomas  from  Nashville,  Tennessee,  and  was 
examined  the  day  after  his  arrival  in  the  city.  As  was 
his  custom,  Wirz  was  reclining  upon  the  sofa  in  the  court 
room. 

The  judge  advocate,  Colonel  K.  P.  Chipman,  asked, 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  Ill 

"  Do  you  know  Henry  Wirz  ?" 

"I  have  seen  him." 

"  Would  you  recognize  him  if  you  should  see  him 
again?" 

"  I  would,  readily." 

"Prisoner,  stand  up  and  confront  the  witness!" 

With  real  or  affected  weakness,  Henry  Wirz  slowly 
arose  from  his  recumbent  position,  and,  with  vacillating 
look,  stood  before  the  witness,  but  cowered  under  his 
gaze,  while  his  trembling  limbs  seemed  almost  to  deny 
him  support. 

"Who  is  that  man?" 

"  That  is  Henry  Wirz,  of  Andersonville." 

"  Are  you  positive  of  it?" 

"  I  am  positive  of  it,  for  I  have  seen  him  riding  at  An 
dersonville  ;  and  he  was  pointed  out  to  me,  when  I  first 
went  there,  as  Captain  Wirz." 

Here  Wirz  made  a  sign  for  water,  when  a  glass  was 
handed  him  by  an  attendant. 

"State  under  what  circumstances  you  have  seen  him 
that  you  can  identify  him  now." 

"  I  have  seen  him  often  at  Andersonville,  but  I  know 
him  as  the  man  who  shot  my  comrade,  William  Stewart." 

With  a  convulsive  gesture  of  dissent,  with  both  hands 
and  arms  extended,  his  fingers  spasmodically  working, 
as  if  they  sought  to  grasp  the  witness,  Wirz  gurgled  some 
unintelligible  words  to  his  accuser. 

"  Silence,  prisoner  I"  sternly  ordered  the  president ; 
"  your  counsel  will  speak  for  you." 

His  head  sank  upon  his  breast,  and  his  arms  hung 
nerveless  by  his  sides  as  he  obeyed. 


112  ANDERSONVILLE. 

"Look  up,  prisoner,"  said  the  judge  advocate,  "and 
regard  the  witness !" 

Slowly  and  languidly  he  raised  his  dull,  glassy,  deep- 
set  eyes,  and  vacantly  looked  at  the  witness. 

"  Go  on  and  state  the  circumstances  of  the  shooting." 

"  Stewart  and  I  had  brought  a  dead  body  out  to  the 
dead-house  without  being  ordered  to  do  so,  when  Wirz 
came  up  and  asked  what  we  were  doing  there.  Stewart 
replied  that  we  had  brought  out  a  dead  body.  Wirz 
said  it  was  a  lie ;  that  we  were  trying  to  make  our  escape. 
Stewart  said  it  was  not  so ;  we  had  come  out  for  the  pur 
pose  he  had  stated ;  when  Wirz  told  him  if  he  said  that 
again  he  "would  blow  his  d — d  brains  out.  Stewart  re 
peated  what  he  had  said  before,  when  Wirz  drew  his  re 
volver  and  shot  him." 

"No!  no!  I — I — "  stammered  the  prisoner,  wildly 
throwing  his  arms  about,  as  if  to  beat  off  the  phantom 
of  his  murdered  victim  that  floated  in  ghastly  form  be 
fore  him,  his  eyes  glaring  and  rolling  in  their  meaning 
less  distraction,  foam  issuing  from  his  quivering  jaws,  as 
his  trembling  limbs  yielded  to  the  weight  they  could  not 
support,  and  he  sank  to  the  floor. 

"Bailiffs,  sustain  the  prisoner !"  echoed  the  deep  voice 
of  the  president,  as  two  officials,  one  on  either  side,  raised 
up  his  crouching  form,  and  so  supported  it. 

"  How  far  off  was  Stewart  from  the  prisoner  when  he 
was  shot?" 

"  About  eight  feet,  sir." 

"Where  did  the  ball  strike  him?" 

"  In  the  breast." 

"How  long  did  he  survive  the  shot?" 


ANDERSONVILLE.  113 

"Not  half  an  hour." 

"What  else  occurred  at  that  time?" 

"Not  much  more,  sir;"  but,  from  the  deeply-drawn 
breath  and  slow  utterance  of  the  witness,  it  was  evident 
he  was  pondering  the  sad  episode  of  his  comrade's  slaugh 
ter,  for  his  voice  was  low.  "I  told  him  I  thought  that 
was  hard,  when  he  said  if  I  didn't  look  out  he  would 
blow  my  brains  out."  Once  more,  with  convulsive  ges 
ticulations  and  incoherent  voice,  the  prisoner  broke  upon 
the  hushed  stillness  of  the  crowded  court-room ;  but  ac 
cusing  conscience  was  stronger  than  the  relaxed  voice  or 
trembling  frame,  and  he  sank  swooning  into  the  bailiffs' 
arms. 

"Give  the  prisoner  some  brandy.  Officer,  clear  the 
room.  The  court  is  adjourned  for  the  day,"  ordered  the 
president ;  and  the  crowd  slowly  passed  out,  while  an  at 
tendant  physician  sought  by  restoratives  to  summon  back 
the  ebbing  spirit  of  the  murderer  Wirz. 

William  Ilarrington  was  lying  upon  the  ground  one 
day  sick,  when  Wirz  passing  by,  Ilarrington  asked  him 
for  some  materials  with  which  to  make  a  tent.  As  he 
proffered  his  request,  Wirz  jumped  upon  him  with  his 
heavy -heeled  boots  several  times,  and  stamped  upon  his 
breast,  while  the  poor  invalid  screamed  with  agony. 
"  There,  G — d  d — n  you !  ask  me  for  tents  again !"  cried 
Wirz,  as  blood  and  froth  poured  from  the  wan  prisoner's 
mouth.  lie  was  taken  to  the  hospital,  and  left  it  only  in 
the  dead-wagon. 

On  another  occasion,  as  the  men  were  being  divided 
into  squads,  one  of  the  prisoners,  from  extreme  exhaus 
tion,  did  not  or  could  not  fall  in,  when  Wirz  told  him, 


114:  ANDERSONVILLE. 

with  the  usual  oath,  if  he  did  not  "  get  into  line  and  stay 
there,  he  would  beat  his  brains  out!"  The  man  replied 
that  he  could  not  stand  up.  "Then  lie  there,  G — d  d — n 
you!"  and  repeatedly  struck  him  over  the  head  and  face 
with  the  butt  of  his  revolver.  His  skull  was  broken,  the 
dark  tide  flowing  out  from  an  aperture  over  the  right 
temple,  and  he  died  just  where  he  lay. 

Here  let  us  stop.  There  has  been  too  much,  Heaven 
knows,  already  recited  to  harrow  up  the  coldest  sensibil 
ities,  to  satisfy  the  most  morbid  tastes  in  this  accumula 
tion  of  cold-blooded,  deliberate  murders.  The  mind  sick 
ens  with  the  regale  that  such  a  feast  affords,  and  the  hand 
wearies  with  recording  the  crimes. 

All  this  time  the  starvation  among  the  prisoners  con 
tinued,  and  their  necessities  became  so  great  that  resorts 
were  had  to  practices  to  obtain  something  to  eat  which 
no  false  delicacy  must  prevent  being  made  known.  It 
is  in  evidence  "that  men  were  frequently  seen  picking 
up  particles  of  food — peas — which  had  passed  undigested 
through  the  systems  of  others,  washing  and  eating  them." 

Thomas  Walsh,  of  the  47th  New  York,  had  been  able 
to  retain  in  his  possession  a  Testament,  upon  the  blank 
leaves  of  which  and  along  the  margins  he  had  written 
short  terse  sentences — a  species  of  diary  of  the  events  oc 
curring  of  greatest  moment  in  his  dread  prison  life. 
Here  are  some  of  the  extracts : 

"March  26,  no  rations  to-day;  March  27,  rations  not 
served  till  three  o'clock;  April  1,  no  rations  issued;  April 
2,  issued  at  five  P.M.,  meal  and  mule  flesh ;  April  19,  no 
meat ;  April  27,  a  man  shot  for  getting  over  the  line ; 
May  2,  our  friend  the  cavalryman  shot  dead."  Witness 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  115 

explained  that  in  this  instance  some  boxes  had  been  sent 
through  Richmond  from  the  North  for  the  prisoners,  and 
some  one  had  thrown  mouldy  bread  across  the  dead-line, 
and  the  man  who  was  shot  had  reached  over  to  get  it. 
"May  15,  the  singular  cripple, '  Chickamauga,'  shot  dead 
inside  the  dead  line ;  May  18,  orders  read  that  if  any  one 
attempts  to  break  out,  the  artillery  will  fire  into  the  stock 
ade  indiscriminately — order  signed  by  Wirz ;  the  captain 
vigorously  looking  out  for  tunnels ;  the  men  in  a  most 
deplorable  condition ;  never  knew  but  one  man  who  ever 
returned  to  the  stockade  after  being  taken  to  the  hospital. 
July  3,  no  rations ;  July  4,  rations  full  of  maggots,  and 
had  to  be  thrown  away ;  July  13,  a  man  shot  dead  at  the 
dead  line ;  August  C,  a  man  went  to  the  brook,  reached 
over  the  line  with  a  pole  and  cup,  and  was  shot  —  water 
colored  with  his  blood ;  September  10,  my  God,  why  hast 
Thou  forsaken  me  ?  September  12,  no  rations ;  Septem 
ber  1-1,  rations  served  at  five  P.M. ;  September  18,  no  ra 
tions  ;  we  have  had  no  rations  since  day  before  yester 
day  ;  September  23,  the  boys  are  starving."  And  so  it 
proceeds,  the  soiled  but  well-worn  Gospel  covered  on  all 
of  its  margins  with  such  jottings  down  of  the  progress  of 
starvation.  It  is  unnecessary  to  quote  more  of  this  sad 
diary,  but  that  little  book  is  a  compendium  of  all  the 
horrors  that  all  the  prisons  whose  stories  have  been  writ 
ten  can  not  equal  for  unmitigated  and  relentless  bar 
barity. 

Martin  G.  Ilogan  testified  that  "  the  men  were  in  a 
miserable  condition — as  bad  as  possibly  could  be;  they 
were  so  thick  that  they  could  scarcely  elbow  their  way ; 
some  lay  in  their  filth  calling  for  water  and  crying  for 


116  ANDERSON  VILLE. 

food,  but  no  attention  was  paid  to  them.  The  quality 
of  the  food  was  miserable,  and  eating  it  produced  a  most 
injurious  effect,  because  the  half-baked  corn -bread  was 
sour,  and  the  beef,  whenever  it  was  furnished,  was  of 
very  inferior  quality,  and  more  than  half  the  time  had 
maggots  in  it.  Men  afflicted  with  the  scurvy  would 
crawl  upon  the  ground  and  pick  up  what  passed  through 
others — the  sight  was  horrible;  very  many  were  with 
out  clothing,  and,  having  no  shelter,  burrowed  in  the 
ground." 

Samuel  M.  Eiker,  a  prisoner,  "  was  detailed  to  work  in 
the  bake-house,  and  was  there  for  some  time.  There 
were  great  quantities  of  provisions  there,  and  I  never 
knew  the  commissary  to  be  empty.  On  one  occasion 
Captain  Wirz  sent  down  a  large  lot  of  spoiled  pork  and 
had  it  exchanged  for  good  pork  —  the  bad  pork  was  is 
sued  to  the  prisoners ;  I  tried  to  eat  some  of  it,  and  it 
made  me  sick.  James  W.  Duncan  was  in  charge  of  the 
bakery  and  cook-house,  and  was  also  a  detective  under 
Wirz.  Duncan,  Bowers,  and  Humes  were  together,  and 
they  used  to  take  the  provisions  intended  for  the  prison 
ers  and  sell  them.  Duncan  used  to  accept  bribes  of 
money  and  watches  from  the  prisoners  to  let  them  es 
cape,  and  then  would  tell  Wirz  of  their  intention  and 
they  would  be  punished.  Duncan  boasted  that  he  was 
making  more  money  by  selling  provisions  and  sirup  than 
any  one  else  at  Andersonville." 

This  man,  James  W.Duncan,  is  or  was  in  the  Old  Cap 
itol  Prison  for  murdering  and  inhumanly  treating  the  pris 
oners.  He  had  been  summoned  to  Washington  as  a  wit 
ness  for  Wirz,  when,  on  his  becoming  known  to  the  judge 


ANDERSONVILLE.  117 

advocate,  he  ordered  his  arrest  upon  the  testimony  which 
follows.  This  scene  transpired  on  that  occasion. 

Mr.  Baker,  Wirz's  counsel,  objected  to  any  testimony 
with  regard  to  Duncan,  unless  it  could  be  first  shown 
that  he  was  an  agent  of  Wirz,  and  acting  under  his  orders. 

General  Thomas :  "  We  are  trying  a  conspiracy,  and 
other  persons  besides  Wirz  are  charged." 

Mr.  Baker :  "  I  do  not  lose  sight  of  that  fact,  but  I  pay 
no  attention  to  that  part  of  the  first  charge  which  charges 
unknown  persons.  It  was  well  known  that  it  could  not 
be  sustained  in  law,  and  therefore  I  pay  no  more  atten 
tion  to  it  than  I  do  to  the  idle  wind." 

General  Wallace :  "  Mr.  Baker,  you  inform  us  that  you 
pay  no  attention  to  this  first  charge.  This  is  what  we 
are  trying  the  case  under,  and,  if  we  were  disposed  to  be 
curt,  we  may  be  induced  to  pay  no  attention  to  what  you 
say." 

It  was  shown  that  on  one  occasion  Duncan  came  into 
the  stockade  with  bread  as  usual.  The  witness  who  tes 
tified  was  detailed  to  go  and  bring  the  bread  for  his  squad, 
with  a  man  from  a  Tennessee  regiment  to  assist  him. 
After  they  had  received  their  quota  of  bread,  and  Dun 
can  was  dealing  out  to  another  squad,  a  piece  of  crust 
broke  off  and  fell  under  the  wagon.  The  Tennessee  man 
stooped  to  pick  it  up,  when  Duncan  leaped  to  the  ground, 
and  kicked  and  beat  the  man  so  severely  that  soon  after 
he  died.  Some  time  from  that  Duncan  was  again  issu 
ing  bread,  and  a  poor  half-witted  fellow  was  standing 
near,  looking  on,  but  saying  nothing.  Duncan  asked 
him,  with  an  oath,  what  he  wanted  there?  lie  replied, 
"  Nothing."  "  Well,  here's  something  for  you,"  said  the 


118  ANDERSONVILLE. 

ruffian,  when  he  knocked  him  down  and  stamped  upon 
him,  then  threw  him  over  the  dead  line,  when  a  sentinel 
shot  and  killed  him. 

On  another  occasion  Duncan  and  Bowers  seized  upon 
James  Armstrong,  and  put  him  in  the  spread-eagle  stocks 
for  saying  that  he*  did  not  get  his  full  rations  of  bread. 
They  robbed  him  of  his  money  and  a  picture  of  his  sister, 
which  Armstrong  begged  might  be  returned  to  him.  In 
six  hours  they  returned  and  released  him,  when  he  again 
asked  for  his  sister's  likeness,  but  was  told  by  Duncan, 
with  an  oath — all  swore  there,  from  Winder  down  to  the 
negro  who  blacked  his  boots — "  that  he  might  consider 
himself  d — d  lucky  to  get  off  with  his  life;"  and  threat 
ened  to  put  a  ball  and  chain  on  him  if  he  said  any  thing 
more  to  him  about  it.  The  amount  of  money  that  Dun 
can  stole  was  nine  dollars  in  greenbacks. 

But  perhaps  the  most  pitiable  meanness,  where  mean 
nesses  were  so  common,  was  a  trick  which  this  man  Dun 
can  played  off  upon  a  poor,  scurvy-stricken  prisoner, 
James  Hamilton.  It  has  been  observed  that  orders  were 
issued  prohibiting  the  purchase  of  any  vegetables  by  the 
prisoners,  and  if  any  were  obtained  in  contravention  of 
these  orders,  if  the  transgressor  could  be  pointed  out,  not 
only  were  his  hard-earned  vegetables  confiscated,  but  he 
was  severely  punished  for  an  infraction  of  the  rule. 
Hamilton  was  one  day  lying  upon  the  ground,  calling, 
in  his  weariness  and  distress,  for  his  mother,  and  begging 
for  some  vegetables  to  eat,  for  his  instinct  told  him  they ; 
would  be  better  for  him  than  any  medicine.  Just  then 
Duncan  drove  into  the  stockade  with  the  daily  rations 
of  bread,  and  passed  near  where  Hamilton  lay,  having 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  119 

upon  him  an  overcoat  of  somewhat  better  appearance 
than  was  usual  there.  Duncan  inquired  of  him  what  he 
wanted  there  ?  He  replied  that  he  wanted  some  onions, 
and  would  give  any  thing  for  them.  Duncan  told  him 
if  he  would  give  him  his  overcoat  he  would  bring  him 
some,  and  the  poor  fellow  eagerly  accepted  the  offer,  and 
took  off  his  coat  and  gave  it  him. 

Duncan  told  "Wirz  of  it,  and  on  the  following  day, 
when  he  went  in  with  the  bread,  Wirz  accompanied  him. 
He  threw  two  bunches  of  shalots  to  Hamilton,  exclaiming, 
"There  are  your  onions;  I've  done  my  part/'  Wirz 
stepped  up  and  seized  the  vegetables,  and  bore  them  off 
with  him.  But  he  did  not  stop  here ;  he  had  Hamilton 
taken  out,  and,  weak,  exhausted  as  he  was,  placed  him  in 
the  foot-stocks,  and  kept  him  there  for  twelve  hours  in 
the  broiling  sun.  He  went  stark,  staring  mad ;  and,  with 
horrid  imprecations  upon  the  robber  of  his  coat,  mingled 
with  piteous  appeals  to  his  mother  in  her  far-off  home 
— these  two  thoughts  alone  rioting  in  his  mind,  which  in 
sanity  had  not  driven  from  their  strong-hold — thus  he 
lingered  and  died.  Not  too  soon  for  him,  alas !  for  death 
resolved  all  his  cares  and  his  pain,  while  his  poor  ema 
ciated  body  no  more  needed  the  garment  which  heartless 
rascality  had  deprived  him  of. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  quality  as  well  as  the 
quantity  of  the  rations  was  bad  and  irregular.  Some 
days  the  prisoners  received  nothing  at  all,  on  others  a 
short  allowance,  and  again  full  rations,  such  as  they  were. 

The  squad  to  which  Thomas  II.  Kellogg  was  attached 
originally  consisted  of  ninety  men,  and  so  reduced  were 
they  by  starvation,  that  when  the  sergeant  ordered  them 


120  ANDERSONVILLE. 

to  form  into  line,  only  thirty-two  were  able  to  stand  up. 
Their  inability  to  do  so  arose  primarily  from  want  of 
food,  which  had  brought  on  scurvy  and  diarrhoea ;  their 
limbs  were  so  contracted  that  they  could  not  get  up  on 
their  feet.  The  stream  running  through  the  stockade 
was  as  filthy  as  all  the  wash  and  excrement  from  it  could 
render  it,  and  the  surface  of  it  was  covered  with  grease. 
Out  of  four  hundred  men  who  were  captured  with  him 
more  than  three  hundred  died,  while  the  Twenty-fourth 
New  York  battery,  which  was  captured  at  Plymouth, 
North  Carolina,  and  afterward  sent  for  imprisonment  to 
Andersonville,  was  nearly  annihilated  there  through 
starvation  and  disease. 

It  would  seem  to  be  almost  incredible  that  such  a  long- 
continued  system  of  wrong  and  barbarity  could  be  per 
sisted  in  for  month  after  month,  with  investigations  going 
on  under  orders  from  the  Eichmond  authorities,  and  ex 
aminations  under  Cobb,  without  some  facts  becoming 
known  to  the  Confederate  government ;  that,  when  Con 
federate  surgeons  have  been  sworn,  where  twelve  thou 
sand  died,  nine  thousand  six  hundred  might  have  been 
saved  by  using  the  most  ordinary  care,  some  rumors  of 
such  dreadful  mortality  must  have  found  their  way  to 
the  ears  of  those  who  held  the  remedy  in  their  hands. 

Incredulity  may  rest  its  doubts  upon  this  point,  for  all 
was  known  by  the  authorities  at  Eichmond,  and  the  suf 
ferings  that  we  have  detailed  were  preconcerted  there. 

From  an  article  in  the  Richmond  Examiner  of  the  30th 
of  October,  1863,  it  would  appear  that  the  wholesale 
slaughter  of  Andersonville  was  designed,  and  that  the 
Northern  prisoners  were  to  be  systematically  extermi- 


AISTDERSOXVILLE.  121 

nated  by  their  rebel  jailers.  That  paper  recommended, 
under  the  above  date,  that  "  the  Yankee  prisoners  be  put 
ichcre  the  cold  loeather  and  scant  fare  icill  thin  them  out  in 
accordance  with  the  laws  of  nature!"  This  was  no  irre 
sponsible  utterance  of  wild,  murderous  counsels  by  an 
individual  fanatic,  which  passed  as  they  were  read,  with 
out  carrying  wreight  or  influence  with  them — they  were 
the  foreshadowings  of  the  mighty  crime  which  was  to  be 
perpetrated — instigations  to  be  followed  of  the  wholesale 
extermination  of  the  thousands  who  suffered  in  conse 
quence  of  them. 

As  corroborative  of  this,  Henry  S.Footc,  a  representa 
tive  in  the  Confederate  Congress,  has  given  his  testimony 
in  a  letter  dated  "  Montreal,  June  21, 1865." 

"  Touching  the  Congressional  report  referred  to,  I  have 
this  to  say :  A  month  or  two  anterior  to  the  date  of  said 
report,  I  learned  from  a  government  officer  of  respecta 
bility  that  the  prisoners  of  war  at  Richmond  and  Ander- 
sonville  were  suffering  severely  for  want  of  provisions. 
He  told  me  farther  that  it  was  manifest  to  him  that  a 
systematic  scheme  was  on  foot  for  subjecting  these  un 
fortunate  men  to  starvation ;  that  the  commissary  gen 
eral,  Mr. ISTorthrup  (a  most  wicked  and  heartless  wretch), 
had  addressed  a  communication  to  Mr.  Sfiddon,,  the  Sec 
retary  of  War,  proposing  to  Avithhold  meat  Altogether 
from  military  prisoners  then  in  custody,  and  to  give 
them  nothing  but  bread  and  vegetables ;  and  that  Mr. 
Seddon  had  _  indorsed  the  document  containing  this  rec 
ommendation  affirmatively. 

"I  learned  farther  that  by  calling  upon  Mr.  Ould,  the 
commissioner  for  exchange  of  prisoners,  I  would  be  able 

F 


122  ANDERSONVILLE. 

to  obtain  farther  information  upon  the  subject.  I  went 
to  Major  Ould  immediately,  and  obtained  the  desired  in 
formation.  Being  utterly  unwilling  to  countenance  such 
barbarity  for  a  moment — regarding,  indeed,  the  honor  of 
the  whole  South  as  concerned  in  the  affair,  I  proceeded 
without  delay  to  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  called  the  attention  of  that  strangely  constituted 
body  to  the  subject,  and  insisted  upon  an  immediate  com 
mittee  of  investigation." 

But  the  evidence  does  not  terminate  here,  for  it  is  in 
our  power  to  show  that  the  Confederate  Secretary  of 
War,  James  A.  Seddon,  was  fully  and  officially  advised 
of  the  circumstances  which  have  been  detailed  in  these 
pages,  and  knew  as  well  as  any  one  else  the  horrible  suf 
fering  that  his  minions  were  inflicting  upon  the  wretched 
prisoners  there. 

Colonel  D.  T.  Chandler,  assistant  adjutant  general  and 
inspector  general  of  the  rebel  army,  was  specially  detailed 
by  the  War  Department,  under  Seddon,  to  visit,  examine, 
and  report  upon  the  condition  of  the  various  prison-pens 
in  which  captured  Northern  soldiers  were  confined.  This 
detail  was  made  in  consequence  of  the  complaints  which 
had  reached  Eichmond  that  our  prisoners  were  most  in 
humanly  and  murderously  maltreated.  Colonel  Chand 
ler  was  an  officer  occupying  a  high  position  and  great 
confidence  in  the  rebel  service,  and  in  this  mission  acted 
witli  honor,  conscientiousness,  and  ability.  His  report 
was  made  through  the  usual  military  channel — the  office 
of  the  adjutant  general — to  the  Secretary  of  War.  There 
can  be  no  question  that  every  report  from  so  distinguished 
an  officer,  serving  on  an  inspection  tour  of  such  import- 


ANDERSONVILLE.  123 

ance,  must  have  been  specially  and  personally  submitted 
on  its  receipt  to  James  A.  Seddon,  the  chief  of  the  War 
Department. 

This  report  of  Colonel  Chandler  is  dated  at  Anderson- 
ville,  August  5th,  1864,  and  recommends/'' achange  in  the 
officer  in  command  of  the  post,  Brigadier  General  J.  W. 
Winder,  and  the  substitution  in  his  place  of  some  one 
who  unites  both  energy  and  judgment  with  some  feelings 
of  humanity  and  consideration  for  the  welfare  and  comfort 
(so  far  as  is  consistent  with  their  safe-keeping)  of  the  vast 
number  of  unfortunates  placed  under  his  control — some 
one,  at  least,  who  does  not  advocate,  deliberately  and  in  cold 
Hood,  the  propriety  of  leaving  them  in  their  present  condition 
until  their  number  has  been  sufficiently  reduced  by  death  to 
make  the  present  arrangements  suffice  for  their  accommoda 
tion;  who  will  not  consider  it  a  matter  for  self-laudation, 
boasting  that  he  has  never  been  inside  the  stockade  —  a 
place  the  horrors  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  describe,  and  which 
arc  a  disgrace  to  civilization  —  the  condition  of  which  he 
might,  by  the  exercise  of  a  little  energy  and  judgment, 
even  with  the  limited  space  at  his  command,  have  con 
siderably  improved." 

Such  was  the  language  of  Colonel  Chandler  in  his  spe 
cial  report ;  and  by  all  who  have  had  acquaintance  with 
the  strictly  formal  and  reticent  character  of  official  mili 
tary  documents  —  more  especially  when  an  inferior  is 
criticising  a  superior  officer  —  it  must  be  conceded  that 
language  of  bolder  or  more  startling  censure  has  rarely, 
if  ever,  been  employed.  Not  only  did  it  give  technical 
grounds  sufficient  to  call  for  and  jugtify  General  Win 
der's  removal,  but  it  was  full  of  an  honest  and  warm  in- 


12-i  ANDERSON  VILLE. 

dignation,  such  as  a  frank  soldier  would  feel  upon  wit 
nessing  the  horrible  misery  and  destitution  that  met  his 
eyes.  It  was  caused  by  Winder's  remark  to  Colonel 
Chandler  when  the  latter  urged  that  the  prison -pen 
should  be  enlarged,  the  water  purified,  and  sheds  erected, 
more  fuel,  wood,  and  medical  stores  supplied,  that  he, 
General  Winder,  "  thought  it  would  be  better  to  let  one 
half  die,  so  that  they  could  take  care  of  the  remainder 
without  trouble !" 

The  question  recurs,  what,  on  this  report,  was  the  ac 
tion  of  James  A.  Seddon,  the  Secretary  of  War  of  the 
rebel  government?  Was  the  monster  commanding  at 
Andersonville  relieved  of  his  charge,  and  ignominiously 
dismissed  the  service  as  a  disgrace  to  humanity  and  to 
the  soldierly  profession  ?  Were  any  measures  taken  to 
check  what  Colonel  Chandler  had  denounced  as  the  pro 
tracted  murder  of  our  prisoners  —  "deliberately  and  in 
cold  blood"  —  under  a  system,  as  he  adds,  "the  horrors 
of  which  it  is  difficult  to  describe,  and  which  are  a  dis 
grace  to  civilization  ?"  Any  such  thoughts  were  far  from 
Seddon's  mind,  for  he  was  doubtless  aware  that  Winder 
was  faithfully  discharging  the  behests  of  higher  author 
ity  ;  and  so  little  was  the  desire  of  removing  or  punish 
ing  him  on  this  report  of  his  atrocities,  that  in  a  few 
weeks  after  —  as  if  Colonel  Chandler's  denunciation  had 
been  accepted  for  a  testimonial  of  honor — James  A.  Sed 
don  issued  an  order  which  promoted  Winder  to  be  com 
missary  general  and  commander  of  all  military  prisons 
and  prisoners  throughout  the  Confederate  States ! 

In  the  light  of  this  evidence,  it  is  very  difficult  to  con 
ceive  how  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  armies  of  the 


AXDERSONVILLE.  125 

Confederacy  could  remain  in  ignorance  of  such  reports 
as  that  of  Colonel  Chandler ;  how,  as  President  of  the 
Confederate  States,  he  could  not  but  have  known  that 
such  a  state  of  affairs  existed,  without  applying  the  reme 
dy  which  his  position  placed  in  his  hands  and  made  his 
highest  duty ;  how,  as  an  officer  practically  wielding  su 
preme  power  over  all  of  the  affairs  of  the  rebel  govern 
ment,  personally  interfering  in  the  details  and  manage 
ment  of  every  important  concern,  daily  visiting  and  care 
fully  inspecting  the  reports  and  papers  of  the  War  Of 
fice,  this  report  of  Colonel  Chandler  could  have  escaped 
his  scrutiny  and  not  have  come  to  his  knowledge,  will 
challenge  no  weak  credulity. 

But,  for  fear  that  such  credulity  may  find  an  excuse 
for  the  Confederate  authorities  at  Kichmond,  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  know  that  Colonel  Chandler  swore  that  he 
went  in  person  to  the  Secretary  of  ^Yar  and  urged  that 
his  report  should  be  taken  up  and  acted  upon,  thus  bring 
ing  home,  without  a  chance  of  evasion,  a  knowledge  of 
the  hellish  atrocities  which  were  in  course  of  enactment 
at  Andersonville. 

It  is  not  a  pleasing  task  to  be  compelled  to  enlarge 
upon  this  subject,  for  it  is  humiliating  to  humanity  to 
know  that  men  claiming  to  be  civilized,  boasting  of  a 
chivalry  and  refinement  beyond  all  the  rest  of  the  world, 
could,  in  this  nineteenth  century,  in  this  age  and  upon 
American  soil,  be  guilty  of  a  barbarism  such  as  has  been 
sketched,  and  which  would  have  been  a  reproach  to  an 
Algerine  in  the  palmiest  days  of  his  cruelty. 

The  evidence  is  before  the  reader,  direct  and  conclu 
sive,  for  the  facts  of  this  odious  guilt  are  equally  proved 
as  they  are  confessed. 


126  ANDEKSONVILLE. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Effect  of  this  Treatment  on  the  Prisoners. — Moral  Restraint  destroyed. — 
Scenes  within  the  Prison. — Fears  of  Wirz. — Tunneling. — Bobbery  and 
Murder. — Executions. 

IT  will  readily  be  supposed  that,  under  circumstances 
such  as  have  been  narrated,  where  no  regard  was  had  for 
the  comfort  or  health  of  the  prisoners,  and  where  the 
simplest  and  most  obvious  laws  of  hygiene  were  not  only 
overlooked,  but  most  systematically  disregarded,  that  a 
corresponding  effect  would  be  produced,  and  exhibit  it 
self  in  the  conduct  and  in  the  minds  of  the  prisoners.  A 
body  of  men,  counted  by  tens  of  thousands,  destitute  of 
clothing,  destitute  of  shelter,  starving,  unrestrained  by 
any  authority  beyond  what  was  requisite  to  keep  them 
penned  up,  except  their  own  unregulated  impulses,  could 
not  be  herded  together  for  any  great  length  of  time  with 
out  manifesting  some  of  the  very  worst  features  of  human 
nature,  and  rapidly  retrograde  to  the  normal  condition 
of  the  species,  and  display  all  the  characteristics  of  sav 
ages. 

Such,  indeed,  was  the  effect  produced  by  the  treatment 
of  these  prisoners  at  Andersonville.  The  daily,  hourly 
degradation  to  which  they  were  forced ;  the  withdrawal 
or  withholding  of  all  moral  restraint ;  the  filthy,  grovel 
ing  life  which  they  led,  uncheered  by  one  solitary  hope 
of  amendment,  slowly  sunk  them  deeper  and  deeper  into 


ANDERSONVILLE.  127 

despondency,  turned  their  manhood  into  apathy,  and  de 
based  their  courage  into  brutality.  They  were  converted 
into  so  many  wild  beasts,  and  each  was  animated  but  by 
one  purpose — sought  to  accomplish  but  one  object — pro 
longing  their  miserable  lives  by  preying  upon  their  com 
rades  in  misfortune. 

All  of  the  restraints  that  education  and  moral  training 
had  thrown  around  them  were  swept  away,  conscience 
swung  loose  from  its  hold  on  responsibility,  and  they  act 
ed  as  if  there  was  no  more  human  accountability  to  ham 
per  the  full  play  of  every  vicious  tendency  that  might 
impel  them.  There  were  men  confined  in  that  stockade 
who  had  been  well  born  and  tenderly  nurtured,  who  had 
enjoyed  all  of  the  kindly  influences  that  good  example 
and  refined  associations  generate  or  suggest,  whose  edu 
cations  fitted  them  to  adorn  society  and  mingle  in  the 
higher  walks  of  life,  and  whose  memories  of  pleasant 
homes,  loving  mothers,  and  gentle  sisters  would  even 
there  well  up  in  their  hearts,  to  vindicate,  as  it  were,  the 
supremacy  of  their  better  natures. 

These  suffered  from  the  contamination  of  grosser  minds, 
and  were  sunk  to  their  level ;  their  integrity  was  sapped 
by  the  treacherous  effects  of  constant  intercourse,  while 
their  manliness  was  overwhelmed  by  the  brutalizing  re 
sults  of  their  imprisonment ;  and  it  would  not  be  too 
harsh  a  judgment  to  pronounce  the  thirty-five  thousand 
men  there  herded  together  as  but  one  degree  removed 
from  absolute  savages.  In  some  respects  they  did  not 
reach  the  savage  level,  for  he  can  boast  of  his  endurance, 
but  their  manhood  was  gone  ;  he  can  pride  himself  upon 
his  courage,  theirs  was  broken  by  an  accumulation  of 


128  ANDERSONVILLE. 

miseries  under  which  the  savage  himself  would  have 
sunk. 

Wirz  had  carefully  marked  the  gradual  development 
of  these  dangerous  tendencies,  and  was  at  last  satisfied 
that  they  had  culminated  into  the  utter  demoralization 
of  the  wretched  subjects  which  he  controlled,  and  he  be 
gan,  coward  as  he  was,  to  fear  their  sudden  exhibition  to 
ward  himself.  His  visits  to  the  inside  of  the  stockade, 
never  frequent,  were  now  Seldom  made,  and  then  with 
extreme  precautions  for  his  own  safety.  He  well  appre 
ciated  the  danger  of  thrusting  himself  into  the  midst  of 
these  starving,  maddened,  reckless  men,  for  he  knew  that 
his  life  would  not  be  worth  a  minute's  purchase  in  the 
hands  of  these  unutterably  wronged  soldiers,  and  he  was, 
in  consequence,  seen  only  upon  the  platforms  of  the  sen 
tinels,  outside  the  walls.  lie  was  afraid  of  any  unusual 
assemblage  of  the  prisoners,  and  his  orders  to  the  guards 
were  imperative  to  prevent  their  congregating  together, 
and  to  hinder  any  combinations  for  an  escape.  He  kept 
vigilant  watch  to  frustrate  attempts  at  tunneling  under 
the  stockade,  and  patrols,  armed  to  the  teeth,  made  fre 
quent  explorations  within  the  prison  for  that  purpose. 

This  scrutiny  was  not  always  unrewarded,  for  frequent 
ly  excavations  and  tunnels  were  discovered,  with  chan 
nels  leading  from  them,  in  a  state  of  completion  which 
would  soon  insure  a  free  passage  to  the  outside.  One 
such  was  detected  more  elaborately  accomplished  than 
any  previously  attempted.  The  throat  of  the  passage 
was  begun  under  cover  of  one  of  the  shanties  which 
some  of  the  men  had  erected  for  their  dwelling.  The 
orifice  was  about  three  feet  in  circumference,  and  was 


ANDERSONVILLE.  129 

sunk  nearly  twelve  feet  perpendicularly,  commencing 
about  forty  feet  from  the  side  of  the  stockade  posts,  where 
it  shot  off  at  a  right  angle  toward  the  posts,  with  a  slight 
inclination  downward.  The  work  had  advanced  a  dis 
tance  of  nearly  sixty  feet,  and  had  extended  under  and 
beyond  the  stockade,  whence  it  began  gradually  rising 
toward  the  surface,  and  wanted  but  twelve  feet  more  of 
excavation  to  have  brought  it  to  a  successful  exit  above 
ground.  The  interior  of  the  horizontal  passage  was 
nearly  six  feet  in  circumference,  and  the  earth  removed 
from  it  was  so  carefully  bestowed,  or  used  for  plastering 
up  shanties,  as  to  have  escaped  the  watchful  eyes  of  Wirz 
and  his  sentinels.  This  work  had  been  steadily  progress 
ing  for  nearly  three  months,  the  only  tools  used  being 
scraps  of  tin  from  old  cups,  buckets,  and  plates,  with 
knives  and  their  hands.  Only  two  men  were  enabled  to 
work  at  a  time  as  it  progressed,  while  others  behind  them 
assisted  in  removing  the  debris  to  the  throat,  others  car 
rying  it  away  in  blankets  and  in  the  bosoms  of  their 
shirts,  and  disposing  of  it  to  the  best  advantage. 

When  the  discovery  was  made  Wirz  was  furious.  The 
greater  portion  of  the  garrison  was  called  to  arms,  the 
platforms  overlooking  the  stockade  were  filled  with  sol 
diers,  each  with  forty  rounds  of  ball  cartridge,  while  four 
hundred  were  marched  within  the  gates  and  drawn  up 
two  deep,  with  arms  at  a  ready.  A  squad  proceeded  to 
the  spot  where  the  excavation  was  commenced,  and  ar 
rested  all  of  the  prisoners  who  were  near  it  and  those 
who  occupied  the  shelter  where  it  was  begun,  while  work 
men  and  teams  were  at  once  summoned  to  refill  the  hole, 
at  which  they  labored  night  and  day  for  three  days. 

F2 


130  ANDEKSONVILLE. 

The  investigation  which  followed  failed  to  elicit  any 
thing  more  than  the  fact  itself  demonstrated ;  but  Wirz 
was  resolved  not  to  be  balked  in  his  vengeance  upon  some 
one  for  such  a  daring  attempt  to  evade  his  grasp,  and,  in 
default  of  finding  the  real  executors  of  the  work,  he  ar 
rested  the  proprietors  of  the  shanty,  and  proceeded  to 
punish  them.  There  were  six  of  them.  Their  meagre 
rations  were  reduced  to  two  ounces  of  bread  daily,  with 
one  pint  of  water ;  nothing  else  was  given  them  for  twen 
ty-one  days.  They  were  placed  in  the  inclined  stocks 
for  thirty-six  hours,  with  no  intermission  for  rest  night 
or  day  ;  and  for  the  remainder  of  their  term  of  punish 
ment,  nineteen  days,  they  were  linked  together  with  chain 
and  ball.  Two  of  their  number  sank  under  the  terrible 
severity  of  the  punishment  and  died.  In  order  that  the 
rest  of  the  prisoners  might  feel  the  weight  of  his  power, 
and  at  the  same  time  be  deterred  from  making  any  more 
similar  attempts,  their  rations  were  stopped  for  one  day. 

The  operation  of  all  the  combined  cruelty  and  oppres 
sion  which  has  been  detailed  in  these  pages  so  worked 
upon  the  mental  and  physical  powers  of  the  prisoners  as 
to  render  a  stay  in  the  stockade  dangerous  even  to  them 
selves.  It  has  been  remarked  that  there  was  no  restraint 
thrown  around  them  save  the  restless  impulses  of  their 
own  unregulated  passions.  Men  who  were  disposed  to 
be  orderly  were  rendered  riotous  by  association  with  the 
disorderly,  while  those  who  were  habitually  regardless 
of  any  ruling  principle  were  reduced  to  unbridled  reck 
lessness  of  conscience  and  conduct. 

Scarcely  an  hour  of  the  day  passed  at  this  period  that 
robberies  of  the  most  flagrant  character  were  not  com- 


ANDERSONVILLE.  131 

mittcd.  The  stealing  of  food  and  clothes  was  unremit 
ting  ;  nothing  was  secure  from  plunder — nothing  sacred 
from  appropriation.  Whatever  the  voracity,  of  the  out 
side  thieves  had  spared  was  doomed  to  another  spoliation 
at  the  hands  of  their  miserable,  half-famished  companions 
within  the  stockade ;  and  when  cunning  failed  to  secure 
any  coveted  article,  force  was  resorted  to  to  obtain  it. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year  186i  several  murders 
were  committed  in  the  prison  by  an  organized  band  of 
reckless  men,  who  spread  terror  even  among  these  de 
spairing,  broken-hearted  prisoners  by  their  wild  outrages. 
To  such  a  pitch  had  their  conduct  proceeded,  that  it  be 
came  necessary  for  the  better -disposed  class  to  adopt 
some  course  by  which  a  stop  might  be  put  to  excesses 
which  threatened  to  convert  the  prison  into  a  pandemo 
nium,  and  from  the  danger  of  which  no  one  felt  himself 
free ;  they  therefore  appealed  to  Wirz  for  protection. 

lie  responded  by  giving  them  permission  to  punish 
the  aggressors  themselves  and  in  their  own  way,  charac 
teristically  suggesting  that  "  if  they  would  hang  a  thou 
sand  or  two  he  wouldn't  care,  as  it  would  save  him  the 
trouble !" 

A  court  was  therefore  organized  by  the  prisoners  by 
selecting  three  judges,  appointing  a  prosecutor  for  the 
republic  of  wretchedness,  and  impanneling  a  jury  of 
eighteen  to  try  those  accused  of  the  crimes  specified. 
Four  men  were  seized  and  brought  before  this  extem 
porized  court  for  trial.  It  was  proved  that  these  four 
were  the  ringleaders  in  all  the  murders  and  robberies 
which  had  been  committed — indeed,  were  the  actual  crim 
inals  whose  hands  were  stained  with  the  blood  of  their 


132  ANDERSONVILLE. 

starving  companions.  There  was  but  one  course  left  for 
the  court  to  pursue :  the  guilty  ones  could  not  be  turned 
out  of  the  stockade,  for  Wirz  would  not  permit  that,  and 
it  would  have  been  no  punishment  to  give  them  liberty ; 
they  could  not  be  subjected  to  the  ordinary  penalties 
which  Wirz  inflicted,  because  he  reserved  for  himself  the 
luxury  of  using  his  own  engines  to  punish  those  who  re 
belled  against  his  authority — they  must  not  be  monopo 
lized  for  the  protection  of  the  prisoners  against  their  own 
members ;  they  could  not  consistently  and  safely  be 
turned  loose  again  after  having  been  convicted  of  such 
heinous  crimes,  for  this  would  be  making  a  mockery  of 
the  justice  which  their  fellows  had  invoked;  it  was  there 
fore  adjudged  that  they  should  be  hung! 

The  day  came  upon  which  those  miserable  men  were 
to  expiate  the  crimes  of  which  they  had  been  proven 
guilty.  Wirz  had  ordered  a  rough  gallows  to  be  erected 
within  the  stockade,  and  in  the  presence  of  all  the  pris 
oners,  with  the  sentinels'  platforms  crowded  by  soldiers, 
and  the  adjoining  hills  lined  with  curious  spectators,  ea 
gerly  watching  the  scene,  these  four  wretched,  debased 
men  were  executed,  maintaining  to  the  last  their  prefer 
ence  for  death,  even  such  a  death  as  that,  to  living  such 
a  life  as  they  had  led  in  that  prison. 

It  is  a  problem  for  the  ethical  philosopher  to  solve 
whether  justice  had  been  fairly  meted  out  in  this  in 
stance —  whether  these  four  were  more  guilty  before 
heaven  than  he  who  had  brought  them  by  persistent  cru 
elty  to  the  degradation  which  forced  crime  upon  them? 

In  answering  it,  that  man  may  be  considered  fortunate 
who  is  permitted  to  look  upon  crime  as  committed  only 


ANDERSONVILLE.  133 

within  the  spheres  of  enlightened  communities,  and  to 
weigh  the  influence  of  the  slight  temptations  which  led 
to  it.  The  conclusions  to  which  he  must  come  are  un 
avoidable,  and  his  judgment  must  go  against  the  trans 
gressor.  But  place  the  same  individual  upon  the  stand 
point  that  the  judges  and  jury  in  this  case  occupied,  from 
which  he  Las  to  regard  crime  as  instigated,  forced  upon 
one,  not  by  the  slow  growth  of  an  immedicable  perversi 
ty,  but  by  the  delinquency  and  transgression  of  every 
law  by  one  who  controls  the  very  life  of  the  criminal, 
and  who  has  urged  its  commission  almost  as  a  means  of 
maintaining  life,  and  he  will  be  perplexed  how  to  decide 
upon  the  propriety  of  this  act. 

However  this  may  be,  the  effect  of  this  summary  vin 
dication  of  personal  rights  was  plainly  evident  from  this 
time  forth,  and  a  greater  degree  of  safety  for  person  and 
property  began  to  be  felt  in  the  prison.  But  nothing 
could  soften  the  hard  heart  of  the  jailer  of  Andersonville, 
or  force  him  to  change  his  policy  toward  his  luckless 
prisoners.  Gaunt  famine  stalked  more  ghastly  within 
and  around  that  pen ;  disease  continued  with  increasing 
strides  to  claim  its  victims,  while  the  shouts  and  impreca 
tions  of  miserable  maniacs  harried  the  ears  of  the  discon 
solate  men  who  pined  away  there  and  foreshadowed  their 
own  fate.  It  would  be  impossible  to  say  how  many  were 
insane,  or  how  few  there  were  whose  intellects  were  not 
disordered  by  the  treatment  they  received. 

The  recollection  of  the  sights  in  that  prison  will  haunt 
the  mind  years  after  its  last  post  shall  have  rotted  away, 
and  grass  has  grown  upon  the  graves  of  its  humble  dead. 
The  sight  of  one  whose  light  of  reason  has  been  extin- 


134  ANDERSON  VILLE, 

guished  is  sad  at  any  time,  but  sadder  far  is  it  when  the 
mind  is  forced  to  an  eclipse  through  cruelty,  starvation, 
and  disease. 

Within  the  limits  of  that  twenty-seven  acres  of  peo 
pled  life  they  could  be  seen,  with  idiotic  stare  and  drivel 
ing  simper,  wandering  about,  or  gazing  in  listless  apathy 
around;  now  shouting  an  insane  defiance  to  some  im 
agined  foe ;  now  stealthily  hiding  in  tattered  garments 
some  well-polished,  often-gnawed  bone ;  now  sitting  aloof 
while  insensate  tears  glided  down  their  expressionless 
cheeks  as  some  ray  from  their  far-off  home  lightened  up 
their  darkened  minds,  or  weakly  summoned  memory 
back ;  now  tramping  to  and  fro  in  gloomy  haggardness, 
while  they  raved  with  incoherent  curses,  or  laughed  with 
maniacal  glee  at  a  misery  which  made  strong  men  weep. 
All  this  and  more  could  be  witnessed  here  day  after  day, 
until  the  sights  almost  became  familiar,  and  ceased  to 
awaken  the  horror  their  exhibition  would  otherwise 
suggest. 

To  this  condition  were  the  prisoners  at  length  reduced. 
Starvation,  nakedness,  cruel  treatment  had  done  their 
worst,  and  these  were  the  results  upon  brave  and  heroic 
men.  For  they  were  brave  men  all ;  and  they  were  he 
roes  too,  who  had  taken  their  lives  in  their  hands — their 
once  young  and  happy  lives,  bright  with  the  dreams  of 
anticipated  success,  joyous  with  tender  loves — who  had 
been  calm  amidst  the  roar  of  musketry,  quiet  when  the 
shrieks  of  the  wounded  and  dying  arose  around  them  on 
the  battle-field — who  had  faced  honorable  death  with  a 
smile. 

But  here  they  are,  martyrs  to  a  fate  which  the  wildest 


ANDERSONVILLE.  135 

imagination  had  not  pictured,  with  no  soothing  encour 
agement  but  the  empty  consolation  of  deserted  homes 
and  broken  hearts,  to  which  they  return  in  memory,  to 
find  all  the  beauty,  all  the  fragrance,  all  the  song  depart 
ed  forever,  while  they  wait  here  in  lonely  trust  until  the 
Kest  comes  to  them  at  last. 


136  ANDERSONVILLE. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Winter  of  18G4. — Its  Rigor. — Personal  Experiences. — Escaped  Pris 
oner. — He  is  saved. — Efforts  of  the  Masons  to  relieve  the  Suffering. — 
Success. 

As  the  months  of  winter  approached,  other  misfortunes 
began  to  gather  around  the  occupants  of  that  pen,  and 
more  misery  was  ready  prepared  to  aid  in  thinning  out 
their  already  attenuated  ranks.  The  first  frost  of  the 
year  occurred  on  the  25th  of  September,  as  a  foretaste  of 
what  was  in  store  as  the  winter  advanced.  On  the  3d 
and  4th  of  December  the  season  had  clearly  marked  it 
self  by  two  days  of  extreme  cold,  accompanied  with  cut 
ting,  freezing  winds,  while  during  the  nights  thick  ice 
was  made  over  the  surface  of  still  and  exposed  waters. 
From  this  period,  through  January,  the  severest  weather 
was  experienced  that  had  ever  visited  that  region  of 
country.  With  all  the  care  and  appliances  that  ingenu 
ity  could  suggest  or  devise,  it  was  utterly  impossible  for 
the  prisoners  at  Andersonville  to  maintain  themselves  in 
any  comfort,  or  shield  themselves  from  the  cold,  which 
threatened  the  lives  of  even  the  strongest  among  them. 

The  long  confinement,  the  scanty  food,  poor  and  unre- 
freshing,  had  reduced  their  systems  to  such  a  degree  that 
the  blood  within  them  coursed  in  feeble,  fitful  throbbings, 
scarcely  bearing  life  in  its  limpid  secretions.  Haggard 
and  naked,  they  were  unfit  subjects  for  the  rigors  of  that 
memorable  winter,  which  made  strong  men  draw  their 


ANDERSONVILLE.  137 

garments  closer  around  them,  or  seek  the  friendly  shelter 
and  warmth  of  glowing  fires.  Yet,  with  all  their  hag- 
gardness  and  nakedness,  those  shrunken  forms  must  en 
dure  the  frosts  and  the  chilling  blasts  with  what  re 
sources  they  best  could,  upon  the  exposed  and  unshel 
tered  hill-side  where  they  were  confined. 

With  forests  of  great  extent,  within  whose  limits  the 
woodman's  axe  had  scarcely  made  its  mark,  at  a  distance 
of  but  a  few  hundred  feet  from  the  stockade,  Nature  had 
provided  an  unlimited  supply  of  fuel  of  the  very  best 
character.  Nothing  was  required  but  the  permission  of 
Wirz  to  the  prisoners,  when  they  could  have  supplied 
themselves  with  that  which  would  in  some  measure  have 
mitigated  the  terrors  of  that  season.  This  permission 
was  withheld,  or,  if  granted,  was  accompanied  with  such 
restraints  as  to  render  it  a  worthless  boon  when  the  terms 
were  accepted. 

A  few  men  only  at  a  time  were  allowed  to  go  outside 
to  gather  wood.  The  time  of  these  was  limited,  while 
no  tools  or  axes  were  provided  with  which  the  timber 
could  be  cut  or  brought  in.  Such  refuse  and  decaying 
wood  as  could  be  gathered  on  the  ground  was  all  that 
was  allowed  them,  and,  as  successive  parties  made  their 
daily  excursions,  so  the  scanty  supply  became  by  degrees 
exhausted  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  prison, 
and  necessitated  a  wider  range  and  a  longer  time  to  ob 
tain  the  needed  fuel. 

The  greater  the  distance  to  which  they  were  compelled 
to  go,  the  smaller  the  loads  with  which  they  returned, 
and  at  last  it  became  difficult  to  procure  wood  enough  to 
suffice  for  the  slender  cooking  which  they  required.  Day 


138  ANDERSONVILLE. 

after  day  that  shrunken,  pallid  crowd  might  be  seen 
standing  in  shivering  groups  over  exhausted  embers, 
which  failed  to  impart  warmth  or  comfort  to  their  freez 
ing  bodies,  while  they  wistfully  gazed  at  the  towering 
trees,  which  seemed  to  mock  their  misery,  at  a  stone's 
throw  from  them.  Wirz  was  literally  carrying  out  the 
edict  of  the  Richmond  Examiner  of  just  one  year  before, 
and  he  was  permitting  "  the  cold  weather  to  thin  them  out 
in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  Nature!"  They  were  thin 
ned  out,  poor  fellows !  for  the  dawn  of  every  morning 
would  display  them  lying  close  huddled  together  for 
warmth,  with  here  and  there  the  stiffened,  frozen  form  of 
one  out  of  whose  attenuated  body  the  breath  of  life  had 
passed,  hugging  his  neighbor,  who  breathed  unconscious 
of  the  dead  mass  beside  him. 

Wood  could  have  been  provided  with  no  expense  and 
no  trouble.  It  did  not  require  a  printed  form  of  requisi 
tion  upon  a  quarter-master  to  obtain  it,  for  even  bounte 
ous  Nature  had  lavishly  reared  the  trees  at  hand.  The 
man  who  boasted  in  his  defense  that  he  was  always  ani 
mated  by  "  an  angelic  influence"  in  his  treatment  of  these 
prisoners  withheld  what  the  yielding  earth  had  offered, 
and  the  "  angel"  looked  grimly  on  as  he  saw  the  bodies 
of  his  frozen  victims  borne  forth,  unawakened  from  their 
last  sad  sleep. 

And  so  the  winter  passed  on,  the  strongest  and  most 
hopeful  breasting  the  cold  and  nerving  themselves  to  the 
endurance  of  what  they  could  neither  escape  or  alle 
viate. 

Now  and  then  one  did  escape,  preferring  the  risk  of 
the  sentinel's  bullet  or  the  hound's  fangs,  of  death  itself 


ANDERSONVILLE.  139 

outside  the  prison,  to  the  slow,  lingering,  but  certain  ex 
tinction  which  awaited  him  if  he  remained  there. 

One  case  of  successful  escape  from  the  prison  fell  un 
der  the  personal  notice  of  the  author,  and  will  be  im 
pressed  upon  his  memory  as  long  as  it  lasts. 

The  night  of  the  5th  of  January,  1865,  was  marked  as 
one  of  the  coldest  that  had  been  experienced  in  that 
country  for  many  years.  The  ground  was  frozen  solid, 
ice  covered  the  standing  water,  while  the  biting  blasts  of 
a  north  wind  penetrated  the  houses,  and  sent  a  chill  to  the 
hearts  of  all  who  listened  to  its  wild  meanings  amid  the 
pine-trees  that  bowed  to  its  power.  The  mercury  showed 
16°  above  zero  soon  after  the  sun  had  sunk  to  his  lurid 
couch.  The  constant  lowing  of  cattle,  with  the  plaintive 
bleatings  of  sheep,  and  the  restless  voices  of  the  huddled 
swine,  gave  token  that  the  ice  king  was  forth  as  he  is  sel 
dom  seen  in  that  region.  The  North  had  in  reality  vis 
ited  and  subjugated  the  South,  a  forerunner  of  what  was 
to  come  when  its  real  power  should  be  manifest  in  its 
armies. 

Midnight  had  arrived,  when  a  voice  was  heard,  as  if  in 
distress,  asking  aid  and  admittance  to  shelter.  Upon  in 
quiry,  it  was  found  to  proceed  from  a  Union  prisoner, 
who  had  made  his  escape  from  Andersonville  three  days 
before.  In  a  few  moments  he  was  seated  by  the  side  of  a 
blazing  fire,  whose  heat  hardly  sufficed  to  penetrate  the 
chilled  form  which  shivered  in  its  glow.  He  proved  to 
be  a  soldier  from  Lexington,  Kentucky,  and  who  had 
been  recaptured  once  since  making  his  escape,  but  had 
again  freed  himself  while  being  returned  to  his  detested 
prison.  lie  had  heard  the  far-off  baying  of  the  hounds 


140  ANDERSONVILLE. 

that  had  been  put  upon  his  track  often  during  that  day, 
but  Fortune  favored  his  efforts,  and  he  succeeded  in  elud 
ing  their  scent.  A  friendly  negro  man  whom  he  en 
countered  divided  his  pone  of  corn-bread  and  bacon  with 
him,  and  gave  him  directions  to  the  author's  house. 

"He's  a  Yankee  from  de  Norf,  and  he'll  'sist  you  sure!" 
said  Isham  to  the  wearied,  hound-hunted  man. 

"Won't  he  be  afraid  to  help  me?"  queried  the  doubt 
ing  fugitive. 

"  Bless  you  t  not  he.  Dere's  no  one  'bout  here  he's 
feared  of.  I  tell  you,  boss,  he's  a  real  Yankee,  an'  no  mis 
take." 

And  to  that  Yankee's  house  the  tracked  man  at  last 
came,  and  found  what  he  feared  would  be  denied  him — 
sympathy  and  material  aid. 

The  kind-hearted  wife  exerted  herself  to  provide  sub 
stantial  food  and  hot  coffee  for  her  exhausted  guest,  who 
sat  once  more  at  a  table,  and  refreshed  himself  with  the 
comforts  of  refined  life.  So  long  time  had  he  been  de 
prived  of  the  use  of  knives  and  forks,  that  it  demanded 
some  exertion  before  he  could  manipulate  to  advantage 
with  them.  But  hunger  is  a  master  of  all  formalities,  as 
the  encouraging  smile  and  moistened  eye  of  the  attentive 
hostess  urged  the  soldier  to  eat,  and  proved  his  aptitude 
to  learn. 

Not  here  did  she  terminate  her  ministrations  to  his 
wants,  but  with  keen  foresight,  such  as  none  but  "the 
kind  of  heart"  possess,  the  good  wife  and  sympathizing 
lady  made  provision  for  the  soldier's  future  needs.  From 
the  smoke-house  ample  supply  of  bacon  was  brought, 
and  corn-bread  prepared  by  her  own  hands,  and  the  hav- 


ANDERSON  VILLE. 

ersack  was  filled.  Tobacco,  matches,  and  money  was 
given  to  solace  his  lonely  tramp  beyond  the  lines  of  dan 
ger,  or  to  aid  in  procuring  his  necessary  food. 

And  then  the  gentle  eyes  scanned  the  worn,  patched 
suit  of  blue  flannel — so  worn,  indeed,  that  it  would  have 
served  for  a  summer's  dress  from  its  tenuity,  but  ill 
adapted  to  the  rigors  of  that  wintry  night.  Over  all  was 
fitted  the  warm  clothing  of  a  soldier  son,  while  thick 
stockings  and  sound  shoes  were  given  to  protect  the  soil- 
worn  feet.  With  a  well-replenished  fire,  the  wearied  man 
laid  down  to  a  short  rest,  and  soon  sunk  into  profound 
slumber — deeper,  perhaps,  than  any  he  had  enjoyed  since 
he  left  his  Kentucky  home. 

Before  the  dawn  of  day  he  was  aroused,  and  his  way 
to  St.  Mark's,  Florida,  was  pointed  out,  while  he  was  cau 
tioned  to  travel  only  by  night.  With  a  God  speed,  he 
stepped  manfully  forth  into  the  shadows  of  the  forest, 
lighter  of  heart  and  better  prepared  to  stem  the  troubles 
that  were  before  him  until  his  liberty  should  be  secured. 

When  that  excellent  woman  at  last  returned  to  her 
rest,  an  invocation  was  heard  from  her  pure  lips  to  Him 
who  watches  over  the  helpless  that  the  soldier-prisoner 
might  be  under  his  protection  in  his  lonely  bivouac  as 
in  his  eternal  sleep. 

The  attention  of  several  masonic  bodies  in  Georgia  was 
directed  to  the  destitute  condition  of  brethren  of  the  or 
der  who  were  confined  at  Andersonville,  and  correspond 
ing  means  were  taken  to  relieve  their  wants  and  minis 
ter  to  their  sufferings.  The  Lodges  at  Thomasville  and 

O  O 

Albany  were  conspicuous  in  their  efforts  to  seek  out  and 
aid  the  masons  in  prison  and  hospital.  Delegations  from 


142  ANDERSONVILLE. 

these  bodies  went  to  Andersonville,  and,  not  without  dif 
ficulty,  found  the  names  of  many  who  required  their  fra 
ternal  assistance.  Money,  clothing,  and  food  was  pro 
vided  by  the  Albany  Lodge,  and  the  destitute  brothers 
were  cheered  by  the  kind  attentions  of  their  friends,  re 
lieved  by  their  bounty,  solaced  by  their  care,  or  buried 
with  the  mystic  ceremonies  of  the  order.  The  Lodge  at 
Macon  contributed  clothing,  and  rendered  such  other 
services  as  their  means  permitted,  while  individual  mem 
bers  of  other  Lodges  exerted  themselves  in  the  cause  of 
humanity,  and  rescued  many  from  their  undeserved  suf 
fering. 

It  is  pleasant  to  be  permitted  to  record  such  acts  of  un 
selfish  benevolence ;  for,  although  the  total  of  those  who 
were  thus  relieved  was  small  in  comparison  with  the  vast 
amount  of  destitution  there  exhibited,  it  nevertheless  goes 
to  swell  the  aggregate  of  that  noble  band  who  will  be 
cheered  with  the  divine  salutation,  "Inasmuch  as  ye  have 
done  it  to  one  of  these." 


ANDEKSONVILLE.  l-±3 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  End  at  Last. — Peace. — Wirz  in  Fear. — Letter  to  General  Wilson.-^ 
His  Apprehension  and  Trial. — Constitution  of  the  Court. — Effect  of 
the  Evidence. — Findings. — Order  for  Execution. 

AND  thus  the  thirteen  months  of  the  existence  of  this 
abode  of  wretchedness  and  death  wore  wearily  on.  to  their 
close  as  the  great  events  of  the  war  reached  their  culmina 
tion. 

Changes  had  occurred  in  the  internal  administration 
of  the  prison,  and  others  assumed  the  positions  which 
their  predecessors  had  vacated.  The  arch-director  of 
prisons  had  met  with  a  change  of  mor.e  momentous  im 
portance  to  himself  than  to  any  whom  he  had  left  be 
hind  him.  77/5  commission  icas  revoked.  John  II.  Win 
der  was  no  longer  a  brigadier  general  in  the  Confederate 
army.  He  had  been  summoned  to  answer  for  his  crimes 
before  a  court  whose  jurisdiction  could  not  be  questioned, 
and  whose  judgment  was  irrevocable.  He  was  dead — 
dead,  with  all  the  hideous  accumulation  of  unrepented 
sins  which  he  had  scored  up  against  himself  there  at 
Andersonville.  His  record  was  made  out  by  his  own 
hand,  and  he  died  too  soon  for  human  justice,  too  late 
for  divine  mercy.  His  name  will  go  down  forever  linked 
with  the  terrible  but  just  censure  of  Colonel  Chandler  as 
one  u-lio  advocated  murder  deliberately  and  in  cold  Hood, 
and  with  the  enduring  execrations  of  every  man  of  sen 
sibility  who  ever  had  an  hour's  intercourse  with  him. 


ANDERSONVILLE. 

> 

The  author  does  not  subscribe  to  the  paganism  which 
forbids  censure  of  the  bad  because  no  good  can  be  uttered 
of  the  dead,  nor  will  he  be  misled  by  the  drivel  of 
"magnanimity"  when  he  sums  up  the  character  of  a  de 
liberate  torturer  and  slayer  of  helpless  prisoners  of  war. 
He  accepts  the  rule  as  laid  down  by  Carlyle:  "Above 
all  things,  let  us  rid  ourselves  of  cant;"  and,  in  dismiss 
ing  the  man  Winder  to  the  infamy  which  must  ever  be 
his,  he  bids  farewell  to  the  leading  subject  in  a  panorama 
of  public  horror,  which  will  rival  the  most  revolting  of 
Dante's  conceptions,  because  the  pictures  from  his  hand 
were  real  and  conceivable. 

The  weary  months  at  last  reached  April  in  their  re 
curring  order,  when  the  sun  of  the  twenty-seventh  shone 
down  upon  the  exhausted,  degraded  remnant  who  yet 
peopled  that  filthy  stockade.  Peace  had  at  length  come 
to  them,  but  not  in  her  poetical  garb  of  purity.  Her  gar 
ments  were  defiled  as  she  passed  through  that  inclosure, 
where  a  holocaust  of  corruption  had  been  offered  up  for 
thirteen  months;  her  smile  was  changed  to  sadness  as 
she  gazed  upon  the  wrecks  of  humanity  whose  feeble 
voices  welcomed  her  approach.  But  she  bore  them  the 
tidings  of  freedom,  and  from  that  moment  they  felt  their 
manhood  return  to  them  again — they  were  free  at  last ! 

The  jailer  Wirz  had  continued  his  residence  near  the 
stockade  with  his  family,  and  there  the  peace  found  him, 
terrified,  trembling  at  the  future  that  he  saw  before  him. 
His  occupation  was  gone ;  his  companions  in  crime  had 
left  him  the  sole  occupant  of  the  theatre  of  his  past  atroci 
ties,  to  confront  by  himself  the  scorn  and  vengeance  of 
an  outraged  nation.  He  quailed  before  the  terrors  of  the 


ANDEKSONVILLE.  145 

storm  he  bad  invoked,  and  the  haughty,  cruel  lord  of 
thirty  thousand  lives  sank  into  the  whining  suppliant  for 
grace  to  his  trebly  forfeited,  worthless  carcase.  He  ad 
dressed  a  letter  to  General  James  II.  Wilson,  command 
ing  at  Macon,  and  sought  his  protection  from  the  justly 
exasperated  prisoners  whom  he  had  tortured.  He  plead 
that  he  had  acted  under  orders,  and  should  not  be  held 
accountable  for  the  results.  Upon  the  reception  of  this 
letter,  General  Wilson  ordered  his  arrest  by  Captain 
Noyes,  United  States  Army,  and  his  transference  to  Ma- 
con,  lie  was  shortly  afterward  removed  to  Washington, 
and  confined  in  the  Old  Capitol  Prison,  and  there  de 
tained. 

In  due  course  the  following  order  was  issued : 

Special  Orders,  No.  453. 

"War  Department,  Adjutant  General's  Office,^ 
Washington,  August  23,  1865.  j 

"3.  A  special  Military  Commission  is  hereby  appoint 
ed  to  meet  in  this  city  at  11  o'clock  A.M.  on  the  23d  day 
of  August,  1865,  or  as  soon  thereafter  as  practicable,  for 
the  trial  of  Henry  Wirz,  and  such  other  prisoners  as  may 
be  brought  before  it. 

"Detail  for  the  Commission  : 
"  Major  General  L.  Wallace,  U.  S.  Volunteers. 
"  Brevet  Major  General  G.  Mott,  U.  S.  Volunteers. 
"Brevet  Major  General  J.  W.  Geary,  U.  S.  Volunteers. 
"  Brevet  Major  General  L.  Thomas,  Adjutant  General  IT. 

S.  Army. 

"  Brigadier  General  Francis  Fessenden,  U.  S.  Volunteers. 
"  Brigadier  General  E.  S.  Bragg,  U.  S.  Volunteers. 

G 


146  ANDERSONVTLLE. 

"Brevet  Brigadier  General  John  F.  Ballier,  Colonel  98th 

Pennsylvania  Volunteers. 
"  Brevet  Colonel  T.  Allcock,  Lieutenant  Colonel  4th  New 

York  Artillery. 

"Lieutenant  Colonel  J. H.  Stibbs,  12th  Iowa  Volunteers. 
"Colonel  1ST.  P.  Chipman,  additional  aid -de-camp,  Judge 
Advocate  of  the  Commission,  with  such  assistants  as 
he  may  select,  with  the  approval  of  the  Judge  Advo 
cate  General. 

"  The  Commission  will  sit  without  regard  to  hours. 
"  By  order  of  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
"E.  D.  TOWNSEND,  Assistant  Adjutant  General." 

Before  this  court,  which  was  acknowledged  to  be,  be 
yond  cavil,  the  most  talented  that  had  ever  been  assem 
bled,  and  as  to  rank  above  exception,  the  jailer,  whose 
current  crimes  have  been  delineated,  was  brought  for 
trial.  The  charges  and  specifications  were  read  to  him. 
It  is  not  considered  necessary  to  give  any  explanation 
of  them,  as  the  reader  can  judge  for  himself.  They  are 
as  follows : 

CHARGE  1. 

Maliciously,  willfully,  and  traitorously,  and  in  aid  of 
the  then  existing  armed  rebellion  against  the  United 
States  of  America,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  March, 
A.D.  1864,  and  on  divers  other  days  between  that  day 
and  the  tenth  day  of  April,  1865,  combining,  confedera 
ting,  and  conspiring  together  with  John  EL  Winder,  Rich 
ard  B.  Winder,  Joseph  White,  W.  S.  Winder,  R.  R.  Ste 
venson,  and  others  unknown,  to  injure  the  health  and  de- 


ANDERSONV1LLE.  147 

stroy  the  lives  of  soldiers  in  the  military  service  of  the 
United  States,  then  held  and  being  prisoners  of  war  with 
in  the  lines  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States  and  in  the 
military  prisons  thereof,  to  the  end  that  the  armies  of  the 
United  States  might  be  weakened  and  impaired,  in  vio 
lation  of  the  laws  and  customs  of  war. 

Specification. 

In  this,  that  he,  the  said  Henry  Wirz,  did  combine, 
confederate,  and  conspire  with  them,  the  said  John  II. 
Winder,  Kichard  B.  Winder,  Joseph  White,  W.  S.  Win 
der,  E.  E.  Stevenson,  and  others  whose  names  are  un 
known,  citizens  of  the  United  States  aforesaid,  and  who 
were  then  engaged  in  armed  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  maliciously,  traitorously,  and  in  violation  of  the 
laws  of  war,  to  impair  and  injure  the  health  and  to  de 
stroy  the  lives — by  subjecting  to  torture  and  great  suffer 
ing,  by  confining  in  unhealthy  and  unwholesome  quar 
ters,  by  exposing  to  the  inclemency  of  winter  and  to  the 
dews  and  burning  sun  of  summer,  by  compelling  the  use 
of  impure  water,  and  by  furnishing  insufficient  and  un 
wholesome  food — of  large  numbers  of  Federal  prisoners, 
to  wit,  the  number  of  thirty  thousand,  soldiers  in  the  mil 
itary  service  of  the  United  States  of  America,  held  as 
prisoners  of  war  at  Andersonville,  in  the  State  of  Georgia, 
within  the  lines  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States,  on  or 
before  the  first  day  of  March,  A.D.  1864,  and  at  divers 
times  between  that  day  and  the  tenth  day  of  April,  A.D. 
1865,  to  the  end  that  the  armies  of  the  United  States 
might  be  weakened  and  impaired,  and  the  insurgents  en 
gaged  in  armed  rebellion  against  the  United  States  might 


148  ANDERSONVILLE. 

be  aided  and  comforted :  And  he,  the  said  Henry  Wirz, 
an  officer  in  the  military  service  of  the  so-called  Confed 
erate  States,  being  then  and  there  commandant  of  a  mili 
tary  prison  at  Andersonville,  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  lo 
cated  by  authority  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States  for 
the  confinement  of  prisoners  of  war,  and  as  such  com 
mandant  fully  clothed  with  authority,  and  in  duty  bound 
to  treat,  care,  and  provide  for  such  prisoners  held  as 
aforesaid  as  were  or  might  be  placed  in  his  custody,  ac 
cording  to  the  law  of  war,  did,  in  furtherance  of  such 
combination,  confederation,  and  conspiracy,  and  incited 
thereunto  by  them,  the  said  John  H.  Winder,  Eichard  B. 
Winder,  Joseph  White,  W.  S.  Winder,  E.  E.  Stevenson, 
and  others  whose  names  are  unknown,  maliciously,  wick 
edly,  and  traitorously  confine  a  large  number  of  such 
prisoners  of  war,  soldiers  in  the  military  service  of  the 
United  States,  to  the  amount  of  thirty  thousand  men,  in 
unhealthy  and  unwholesome  quarters,  in  a  close  and 
small  area  of  ground,  wholly  inadequate  to  their  wants 
and  destructive  to  their  health,  which  he  well  knew  and 
intended ;  and  while  there  so  confined,  during  the  time 
aforesaid,  did,  in  furtherance  of  his  evil  design,  and  in  aid 
of  the  said  conspiracy,  willfully  and  maliciously  neglect 
to  furnish  tents,  barracks,  or  other  shelter  sufficient  for 
their  protection  from  the  inclemency  of  winter  and  the 
dews  and  burning  sun  of  summer ;  and  with  such  evil 
intent  did  take  and  cause  to  be  taken  from  them  their 
clothing,  blankets,  camp  equipage,  and  other  property  of 
which  they  were  possessed  at  the  time  of  being  placed  in 
his  custody ;  and  with  like  malice  and  evil  intent,  did  re 
fuse  to  furnish  or  cause  to  be  furnished  food,  either  of  a 


AXDERSONVILLE.  149 

quality  or  quantity  sufficient  to  preserve  health  and  sus 
tain  life ;  and  did  refuse  and  neglect  to  furnish  wood  suf 
ficient  for  cooking  in  summer,  and  to  keep  the  said  pris 
oners  warm  in  winter,  and  did  compel  the  said  prisoners 
to  subsist  upon  unwholesome  food,  and  that  in  limited 
quantities  entirely  inadequate  to  sustain  health,  which  he 
well  knew ;  and  did  compel  the  said  prisoners  to  use  un 
wholesome  water,  reeking  with  the  filth  and  garbage  of 
the  prison  and  prison  guard,  and  the  offal  and  drainage 
of  the  cook-house  of  said  prison,  whereby  the  prisoners 
became  greatly  reduced  in  their  bodily  strength,  and  ema 
ciated  and  injured  in  their  bodily  health,  their  minds  im 
paired,  and  their  intellects  broken  ;  and  many  of  them,  to 
wit,  the  number  of  ten  thousand,  whose  names  are  un 
known,  sickened  and  died  by  reason  thereof,  which  he, 
the  said  Henry  Wirz,  then  and  there  well  knew  and  in 
tended  ;  and  so  knowing  and  evilly  intending,  did  refuse 
and  neglect  to  provide  proper  lodgings,  food,  or  nourish 
ment  for  the  sick,  and  necessary  medicine  and  medical 
attendance  for  the  restoration  of  their  health,  and  did 
knowingly,  willfully,  and  maliciously,  in  furtherance  of 
his  evil  designs,  permit  them  to  languish  and  die  from 
want  of  care  and  proper  treatment ;  and  the  said  Henry 
Wirz,  still  pursuing  his  evil  purposes,  did  permit  to  re 
main  in  the  said  prison,  among  the  emaciated  sick  and 
languishing  living,  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  until  they  be 
came  corrupt  and  loathsome,  and  filled  the  air  with  fetid 
and  noxious  exhalations,  and  thereby  greatly  increased 
the  unwholesomeness  of  the  prison,  insomuch  that  great 
numbers  of  said  prisoners,  to  wit,  the  number  of  one 
thousand,  whose  names  are  unknown,  sickened  and  died 


150  ANDERSONVILLE. 

by  reason  thereof:  And  the  said  Henry  Wirz,  still  pur 
suing  his  wicked  and  cruel  purpose,  wholly  disregarding 
the  usages  of  civilized  warfare,  did,  at  the  time  and  place 
aforesaid,  maliciously  and  willfully  subject  the  prisoners 
aforesaid  to  cruel,  unusual,  and  infamous  punishment  upon 
slight,  trivial,  and  fictitious  pretenses,  by  fastening  large 
balls  of  iron  to  their  feet,  and  binding  large  numbers  of 
the  prisoners  aforesaid  closely  together,  with  large  chains 
around  their  necks  and  feet,  so  that  they  walked  with  the 
greatest  difficulty ;  and,  being  so  confined,  were  subject 
ed  to  the  burning  rays  of  the  sun,  often  without  food  or 
drink  for  hours  and  even  days,  from  which  said  cruel 
treatment  large  numbers,  to  wit,  the  number  of  one  hund 
red,  whose  names  are  unknown,  sickened,  fainted,  and 
died :  And  he,  the  said  Wirz,  did  further  cruelly  treat 
and  injure  said  prisoners  by  maliciously  confining  them 
within  an  instrument  of  torture  called  "the  stocks,"  thus 
depriving  them  of  the  use  of  their  limbs,  and  forcing 
them  to  lie,  sit,  and  stand  for  many  hours  without  the 
power  of  changing  position,  and  being  without  food  or 
drink,  in  consequence  of  which  many,  to  wit,  the  number 
of  thirty,  whose  names  are  unknown,  sickened  and  died : 
And  he,  the  said  Wirz,  still  wickedly  pursuing  his  evil 
purpose,  did  establish  and  cause  to  be  designated  within 
the  prison  inclosure  containing  said  prisoners  a  "dead 
line,"  being  a  line  around  the  inner  face  of  the  stockade, 
or  wall  inclosing  said  prison,  and  about  twenty  feet  dis 
tant  from  and  within  said  stockade ;  and  having  so  es 
tablished  said  dead  line,  which  was  in  many  places  an 
imaginary  line,  and  in  many  other  places  marked  by  in 
secure  and  shifting  strips  of  boards  nailed  upon  the  top 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  151 

of  small  and  insecure  stakes  or  posts,  he,  the  said  Wirz, 
instructed  the  prison  guard  stationed  around  the  top  of 
said  stockade  to  fire  upon  and  kill  any  of  the  prisoners 
aforesaid  who  might  touch,  fall  upon,  pass  over,  or  under, 
or  across  the  said  "dead  line."  Pursuant  to  which  said 
orders  and  instructions,  maliciously  and  needlessly  given 
by  said  Wirz,  the  said  prison  guard  did  fire  upon  and 
kill  a  large  number  of  said  prisoners,  to  wit,  the  number 
of  about  three  hundred.  And  the  said  Wirz,  still  pur 
suing  his  evil  purpose,  did  keep  and  use  ferocious  and 
bloodthirsty  beasts,  dangerous  to  human  life,  called  blood 
hounds,  to  hunt  down  prisoners  of  war  aforesaid  who 
made  their  escape  from  his  custody,  and  did,  then  and 
there,  willfully  and  maliciously  suffer,  incite,  and  encour 
age  the  said  beasts  to  seize,  tear,  mangle,  and  maim  the 
bodies  and  limbs  of  said  fugitive  prisoners  of  war,  which 
the  said  beasts,  incited  as  aforesaid,  then  and  there  did, 
whereby  a  large  number  of  said  prisoners  of  war  who,  dur 
ing  the  time  aforesaid,  made  their  escape  and  were  recap 
tured,  and  were  by  the  said  beasts  then  and  there  cruelly 
and  inhumanly  injured,  insomuch  that  many  of  said  pris 
oners,  to  wit,  the  number  of  about  fifty,  died :  And  the 
said  Wirz,  still  pursuing  his  wicked  purpose,  and  still 
aiding  in  carrying  out  said  conspiracy,  did  use  and  cause 
to  be  used,  for  the  pretended  purpose  of  vaccination,  im 
pure  and  poisonous  vaccine  matter,  which  said  impure 
and  poisonous  matter  was  then  and  there,  by  the  direc 
tion  and  order  of  said  Wirz,  maliciously,  cruelly,  and 
wickedly  deposited  in  the  arms  of  many  of  said  prison 
ers,  by  reason  of  which  large  numbers  of  them,  to  wit, 
one  hundred,  lost  the  use  of  their  arms,  and  many  of 


152  ANDERSONVILLE. 

them,  to  wit,  about  the  number  of  two  hundred,  were  so 
injured  that  they  soon  thereafter  died :  All  of  which  he, 
the  said  Henry  Wirz,  well  knew  and  maliciously  intend 
ed,  and  in  aid  of  the  then  existing  rebellion  against  the 
United  States,  with  the  view  to  assist  in  weakening  and 
impairing  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  and  in  fur 
therance  of  the  said  conspiracy,  and  with  the  full  knowl 
edge,  consent,  and  connivance  of  his  co-conspirators  afore-/ 
said,  he,  the  said  "Wirz,  then  and  there  did. 

CHARGE  2. 
Murder,  in  violation  of  the  laws  and  customs  of  war. 

Specification  1. 

In  this,  that  the  said  Henry  Wirz,  an  officer  in  the 
military  service  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States  of 
America,  at  Andersonville,  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  on  or 
about  the  eighth  day  of  July,  AJD.  1864,  then  and  there 
being  commandant  of  a  prison  there  located  by  the  au 
thority  of  the  said  so-called  Confederate  States  for  the 
confinement  of  prisoners  of  war  taken  and  held  as  such 
from  the  armies  of  the  United  States  of  America,  while 
acting  as  said  commandant,  feloniously,  willfully,  and  of 
his  malice  aforethought,  did  make  an  assault,  and  he,  the 
said  Henry  Wirz,  a  certain  pistol  called  a  revolver  then 
and  there  loaded  and  charged  with  gunpowder  and  bul 
lets,  which  said  pistol  the  said  Henry  Wirz  in  his  hand 
then  and  there  held,  to,  against,  and  upon  a  soldier  be 
longing  to  the  army  of  the  United  States,  in  his,  the  said 
Henry  Wirz's,  custody  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  whose  name 
is  unknown,  then  and  there  feloniously,  and  of  his  malice 


AXDERSONVILLE.  153 

aforethought,  did  shoot  and  discharge,  inflicting  upon  the 
body  of  the  soldier  aforesaid  a  mortal  wound  with  the 
pistol  aforesaid,  in  consequence  of  which  said  mortal 
wound,  murderously  inflicted  by  the  said  Henry  Wirz, 
the  said  soldier  thereafter,  to  wit,  on  the  ninth  day  of 
July,  A.D.  1864,  died. 

Specification  2. 

In  this,  that  the  said  Ilenry  Wirz,  an  officer  in  the  mil 
itary  service  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States  of  Amer 
ica,  at  Andersonville,  iu  the  State  of  Georgia,  on  or  about 
the  twentieth  day  of  September,  A.D.  1864,  then  and 
there  being  commandant  of  a  prison  there  located  by  the 
authority  of  the  said  so-called  Confederate  States  for  the 
confinement  of  prisoners  of  war  taken  and  held  as  such 
from  the  armies  of  the  United  States  of  America,  while 
acting  as  said  commandant,  feloniously,  willfully,  and  of 
his  malice  aforethought,  did  jump  upon,  stamp,  kick, 
bruise,  and  otherwise  injure  with  the  heels  of  his  boots, 
a  soldier  belonging  to  the  army  of  the  United  States  in 
his,  the  said  Ilenry  Wirz's,  custody  as  a  prisoner  of  war, 
whose  name  is  unknown,  of  which  said  stamping,  kick 
ing,  and  bruising,  maliciously  done  and  inflicted  by  the 
said  Wirz,  he,  the  said  soldier,  soon  thereafter,  to  wit,  on 
the  twentieth  day  of  September,  A.D.  186-1,  died. 

Specification  3. 

In  this,  that  the  said  Ilenry  Wirz,  an  officer  in  the 
military  service  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States  of 
America,  at  Andersonville,  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  on  or 
about  the  thirteenth  day  of  June,  A.D.  1864,  then  and 

G2 


154  ANDERSONVILLE. 

there  being  commandant  of  a  prison  there  located  by  the 
authority  of  the  said  so-called  Confederate  States  for  the 
confinement  of  prisoners  of  war  taken  and  held  as  such 
from  the  armies  of  the  United  States  of  America,  while 
acting  as  said  commandant,  feloniously,  and  of  his  malice 
aforethought,  did  make  an  assault,  and  he,  the  said  Henry 
Wirz,  a  certain  pistol  called  a  revolver  then  and  there 
loaded  and  charged  with  gunpowder  and  bullets,  which 
said  pistol  the  said  Henry  Wirz  in  his  hand  then  and 
there  had  and  held,  to,  against,  and  upon  a  soldier  be 
longing  to  the  army  of  the  United  States,  in  his,  the  said 
Henry  Wirz's,  custody  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  whose  name 
is  unknown,  then  and  there  feloniously,  and  of  his  malice 
aforethought,  did  shoot  and  discharge,  inflicting  upon  the 
body  of  the  soldier  aforesaid  a  mortal  wound  with  the  pis 
tol  aforesaid,  in  consequence  of  which  said  mortal  wound, 
murderously  inflicted  by  the  said  Henry  Wirz,  the  said 
soldier  immediately,  to  wit,  on  the  day  aforesaid,  died. 

Specification  4. 

In  this,  that  the  said  Henry  Wirz,  an  officer  in  the 
military  service  of  the  so  -  called  Confederate  States  of 
America,  at  Andersonville,  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  on  or 
about  the  thirtieth  day  of  May,  A.D.  1864,  then  and  there 
being  commandant  of  a  prison  there  located  by  the  au 
thority  of  the  said  so-called  Confederate  States  for  the 
confinement  of  prisoners  of  war  taken  and  held  as  such 
from  the  armies  of  the  United  States  of  America,  while 
acting  as  said  commandant,  feloniously,  and  of  his  malice 
aforethought,  did  make  an  assault,  and  he,  the  said  Henry 
Wirz,  a  certain  pistol  called  a  revolver  then  and  there 


ANDEKSONVILLE.  155 

loaded  and  charged  with  gunpowder  and  bullets,  which 
said  pistol  the  said  Henry  Wirz  in  his  hand  then  and 
there  had  and  held,  to,  against,  and  upon  a  soldier  be 
longing  to  the  army  of  the  United  States,  in  his,  the  said 
Henry  Wirz's,  custody  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  whose  name 
is  unknown,  then  and  there  feloniously,  and  of  his  malice 
aforethought,  did  shoot  and  discharge,  inflicting  upon  the 
body  of  the  soldier  aforesaid  a  mortal  wound  with  the 
pistol  aforesaid,  in  consequence  of  which  said  mortal 
wound,  murderously  inflicted  by  the  said  Henry  Wirz, 
the  said  soldier,  on  the  thirtieth  clay  of  May,  A.D.  1864, 
died. 

Specification  5. 

In  this,  that  the  said  Henry  Wirz,  an  officer  in  the 
military  service  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States  of 
America,  at  Andersonville,  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  on  or 
about  the  twentieth  day  of  August,  A.D.  1864,  then  and 
there  being  commandant  of  a  prison  there  located  by  the 
authority  of  the  said  so-called  Confederate  States  for  the 
confinement  of  prisoners  of  war  taken  and  held  as  such 
from  the  armies  of  the  United  States  of  America,  while 
acting  as  said  commandant,  feloniously,  and  of  his  malice 
aforethought,  did  confine  and  bind  within  an  instrument 
of  torture  called  "the  stocks,"  a  soldier  belonging  to  the 
army  of  the  United  States,  in  his,  the  said  Henry  Wirz's, 
custody  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  whose  name  is  unknown,  in 
consequence  of  which  said  cruel  treatment,  maliciously 
and  murderously  inflicted  as  aforesaid,  he,  the  said  sol 
dier,  soon  thereafter,  to  wit,  on  the  thirtieth  day  of  Au 
gust,  A.D.  1864,  died. 


156  ANDERSONVILLE. 

Specification  6. 

In  this,  that  the  said  Henry  Wirz,  an  officer  in  the 
military  service  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States  of 
America,  at  Andersonville,  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  on  or 
about  the  first  day  of  February,  A.D.  1865,  then  and  there 
being  commandant  of  a  prison  there  located  by  the  au 
thority  of  the  said  so-called  Confederate  States  for  the 
confinement  of  prisoners  of  war  taken  and  held  as  such 
from  the  armies  of  the  United  States  of  America,  while 
acting  as  said  commandant,  feloniously,  and  of  his  malice 
aforethought,  did  confine  and  bind  within  an  instrument 
of  torture  called  "  the  stocks,"  a  soldier  belonging  to  the 
army  of  the  United  States,  in  his,  the  said  Henry  Wirz's, 
custody  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  whose  name  is  unknown,  in 
consequence  of  which  said  cruel  treatment,  maliciously 
and  murderously  inflicted  as  aforesaid,  he,  the  said  sol 
dier,  soon  thereafter,  to  wit,  on  the  sixth  day  of  Februa 
ry,  A.D.  1864,  died. 

Specification  7. 

In  this,  that  the  said  Henry  Wirz,  an  officer  in  the 
military  service  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States  of 
America,  at  Andersonville,  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  on  or 
about  the  twentieth  day  of  July,  A.D.  1864,  then  and 
there  being  commandant  of  a  prison  there  located  by  the 
authority  of  the  said  so-called  Confederate  States  for  the 
confinement  of  prisoners  of  war  taken  and  held  as  such 
from  the  armies  of  the  United  States  of  America,  while 
acting  as  said  commandant,  feloniously,  and  of  his  malice 
aforethought,  did  fasten  and  chain  together  several  per- 


ANDERSONVILLE.  157 

sons,  soldiers  belonging  to  the  army  of  the  United  States 
in  his,  the  said  Henry  Wirz's,  custody  as  prisoners  of  war, 
whose  names  are  unknown,  binding  the  necks  and  feet 
of  said  prisoners  closely  together,  and  compelling  them 
to  carry  great  burdens,  to  wit,  large  iron  balls  chained  to 
their  feet,  so  that,  in  consequence  of  the  said  cruel  treat 
ment  inflicted  upon  them  by  the  said  Henry  Wirz  as 
aforesaid,  one  of  said  soldiers,  a  prisoner  of  war  as  afore 
said,  whose  name  is  unknown,  on  the  twenty -fifth  day  of 
July,  A.D.  186-1,  died. 

Specification  8. 

In  this,  that  the  said  Henry  Wirz,  an  officer  in  the 
military  service  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States  of 
America,  at  Andersonville,  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  on  or 
about  the  fifteenth  day  of  May,  A.D.  1864,  then  and  there 
being  commandant  of  a  prison  there  located  by  the  au 
thority  of  the  said  so-called  Confederate  States  for  the 
confinement  of  prisoners  of  war  taken  and  held  as  such 
from  the  armies  of  the  United  States  of  America,  while 
acting  as  said  commandant,  feloniously,  willfully,  and  of 
his  malice  aforethought,  did  order  a  rebel  soldier  whose 
name  is  unknown,  then  on  duty  as  a  sentinel  or  guard  to 
the  prison  of  which  said  Henry  Wirz  was  commandant 
as  aforesaid,  to  fire  upon  a  soldier  belonging  to  the  army 
of  the  United  States  in  his,  the  said  Henry  Wirz's,  cus 
tody  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  whose  name  is  unknown ;  and 
in  pursuance  of  said  order  so  as  aforesaid,  maliciously 
and  murderously  given  as  aforesaid,  he,  the  said  rebel 
soldier,  did,  with  a  musket  loaded  with  gunpowder  and 
bullet,  then  and  there  fire  at  the  said  soldier  so  as  afore- 


158  ANDEKSONVILLE. 

said  held  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  inflicting  upon  him  a  mor 
tal  wound  with  the  musket  aforesaid,  of  which  he,  the 
said  prisoner,  soon  thereafter,  to  wit,  on  the  day  afore 
said,  died. 

Specification  9. 

In  this,  that  the  said  Henry  Wirz,  an  officer  in  the 
military  service  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States  of 
America,  at  Andersonville,  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  on  or 
about  the  first  day  of  July,  A.D.  1864,  then  and  there  be 
ing  commandant  of  a  prison  there  located  by  the  author 
ity  of  the  said  so-called  Confederate  States  for  the  con 
finement  of  prisoners  of  war  taken  and  held  as  such  from 
the  armies  of  the  United  States  of  America,  while  acting 
as  said  commandant,  feloniously,  and  of  his  malice  afore 
thought,  did  order  a  rebel  soldier,  whose  name  is  un 
known,  then  on  duty  as  a  sentinel  or  guard  to  the  prison 
of  which  said  "Wirz  was  commandant  as  aforesaid,  to  fire 
upon  a  soldier  belonging  to  the  army  of  the  United 
States,  in  his,  the  said  Henry  Wirz's,  custody  as  a  pris 
oner  of  war,  whose  name  is  unknown  ;  and  in  pursuance 
of  said  order  so  as  aforesaid,  maliciously  and  murderous 
ly  given  as  aforesaid,  he,  the  said  rebel  soldier,  did,  with 
a  rnusket  loaded  with  gunpowder  and  bullet,  then  and 
there  fire  at  the  said  soldier  so  as  aforesaid  held  as  a 
prisoner  of  war,  inflicting  upon  him  a  mortal  wound  with 
the  said  musket,  of  which  he,  the  said  prisoner,  soon  there 
after,  to  wit,  on  the  day  aforesaid,  died. 

Specification  10. 
In  this,  that  the  said  Henry  Wirz,  an  officer  in  the 


ANDERSONVILLE.  159 

military  service  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States  of 
America,  at  Andersonville,  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  on  or 
about  the  twentieth  day  of  August,  A.D.  186-i,  then  and 
there  being  commandant  of  a  prison  there  located  by  the 
authority  of  the  said  so-called  Confederate  States  for  the 
confinement  of  prisoners  of  war  taken  and  held  as  such 
from  the  armies  of  the  United  States  of  America,  while 
acting  as  said  commandant,  feloniously,  and  of  his  malice 
aforethought,  did  order  a  rebel  soldier,  whose  name  is  un- 
kno'wn,  then  on  duty  as-  a  sentinel  or  guard  to  the  prison 
of  which  said  Wirz  was  commandant  as  aforesaid,  to  fire 
upon  a  soldier  belonging  to  the  army  of  the  United 
States,  in  his,  the  said  Henry  Wirz's,  custody  as  a  pris 
oner  of  war,  whose  name  is  unknown ;  and  in  pursuance 
of  said  order  so  as  aforesaid,  maliciously  and  murderous 
ly  given  as  aforesaid,  he,  the  said  rebel  soldier,  did,  with 
a  musket  loaded  with  gunpowder  and  bullet,  then  and 
there  lire  at  the  said  soldier  so  as  aforesaid  held  as  a 
prisoner  of  war,  inflicting  upon  him  a  mortal  wound  with 
the  said  musket,  of  which  he,  the  said  prisoner,  soon  there 
after,  to  wit,  on  the  day  aforesaid,  died. 

Specification  11. 

In  this,  that  the  said  Henry  Wirz,  an  officer  in  the 
military  service  of  the  so  -  called  Confederate  States  of 
America,  at  Andersonville,  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  on  or 
about  the  first  day  of  July,  A.D.  1864,  then  and  there  be 
ing  commandant  of  a  prison  there  located  by  the  author 
ity  of  the  said  so-called  Confederate  States  for  the  con 
finement  of  prisoners  of  war  taken  and  held  as  such  from 
the  armies  of  the  United  States  of  America,  while  acting 


160  ANDERSONVILLE. 

as  said  commandant,  feloniously,  and  of  his  malice  afore 
thought,  did  cause,  incite,  and  urge  certain  ferocious  and 
bloodthirsty-  animals  called  bloodhounds  to  pursue,  at 
tack,  wound,  and  tear  in  pieces  a  soldier  belonging  to  the 
army  of  the  United  States  in  his,  the  said  Henry  Wirz's, 
custody  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  whose  name  is  unknown, 
and  in  consequence  thereof  the  said  bloodhounds  did 
then  and  there,  with  the  knowledge,  encouragement,  and 
instigation  of  him,  the  said  Wirz,  maliciously  and  murder 
ously  given  by  him,  attack  and  mortally  wound  the  said 
soldier,  in  consequence  of  which  said  mortal  wound  he, 
the  said  prisoner,  soon  thereafter,  to  wit,  on  the  sixth  day 
of  July,  A.D.  1864,  died. 

Specification  12. 

In  this,  that  the  said  Henry  Wire,  an  officer  in  the 
military  service  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States  of 
America,  at  Andersonville,  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  on  or 
about  the  twenty-seventh  day  of  July,  A.D.  1864,  then 
and  there  being  commandant  of  a  prison  there  located 
by  the  authority  of  the  said  so-called  Confederate  States 
for  the  confinement  of  prisoners  of  war  taken  and  held 
as  such  from  the  armies  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
while  acting  as  said  commandant,  feloniously,  and  of  his 
malice  aforethought,  did  order  a  rebel  soldier,  whose 
name  is  unknown,  then  on  duty  as  a  sentinel  or  guard  to 
the  prison  of  which  said  Wirz  was  commandant  as  afore 
said,  to  fire  upon  a  soldier  belonging  to  the  army  of  the 
United  States,  in  his,  the  said  Henry  Wirz's,  custody  as  a 
prisoner  of  war,  whose  name  is  unknown,  and  in  pursu 
ance  of  said  order  so  as  aforesaid,  maliciously  and  mur- 


AXDERSONVILLE.  161 

derously  given  as  aforesaid,  he,  the  said  rebel  soldier,  did, 
with  a  musket  loaded  with  gunpowder  and  bullet,  then 
and  there  fire  at  the  said  soldier  so  as  aforesaid  held  as  a 
prisoner  of  war,  inflicting  upon  him  a  mortal  wound  with 
the  said  musket,  of  which  said  mortal  wound  he,  the  said 
prisoner,  soon  thereafter,  to  wit,  on  the  day  aforesaid,  died. 


13. 

In  this,  that  the  said  Henry  Wirz,  an  officer  in  the 
military  service  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States  of 
America,  at  Andersonville,  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  on  or 
about  the  third  day  of  August,  A.D.1S64,  then  and  there 
being  commandant  of  a  prison  there  located  by  the  au 
thority  of  the  said  so-called  Confederate  States  for  the 
confinement  of  prisoners  of  war  taken  and  held  as  such 
from  the  armies  of  the  United  States  of  America,  while 
acting  as  said  commandant,  feloniously,  and.of  his  malice 
aforethought,  did  make  an  assault  upon  a  soldier  belong 
ing  to  the  army  of  the  United  States,  in  his,  the  sak] 
Henry  Wirz's,  custody  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  whose  name 
is  unknown,  and  with  a  pistol  called  a  revolver,  then  and 
there  held  in  the  hands  of  the  said  Wirz,  did  beat  and 
bruise  said  soldier  upon  the  head,  shoulders,  and  breast, 
inflicting  thereby  mortal  wounds,  from  which  said  beat 
ing  and  bruising  aforesaid,  and  mortal  wounds  caused 
thereby,  the  said  soldier  soon  thereafter,  to  wit,  on  the 
fourth  day  of  August,  A.D.  1864,  died. 

By  order  of  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

K  P.  CHTPMAX,  Colonel  and  A.  A.D.C., 
Judge  Advocate. 


162  ANDERSON  VILLE. 

To  the  above  charges  the  prisoner  put  in  pleas  in  bar 
to  the  effect, 

1st.  That  he  had  been  offered  protection  by  General 
J.  II.  Wilson,  and  that  he  should  not  be  held  a  prisoner. 
The  accused  accepted  the  offer,  and  claims  to  have  been 
since  held  in  violation  of  his  personal  liberty. 

2d.  He  denied  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  to  try  him. 

3d.  That  the  war  being  ended  and  civil  law  restored, 
there  is  no  military  law  under  which  he  could  be  tried. 

4th.  He  moved  to  quash  the  charges  for  vagueness  as 
to  time,  place,  and  manner  of  the  offenses. 

5th.  That  he  had  been  on  the  21st  of  August  put  upon 
trial  to  these  charges,  and  that  the  court  had  been  broken 
up  without  his  agency  or  consent.  Having  once  been 
put  in  jeopardy,  he  can  not  now  be  arraigned  as  before, 
but  is  entitled  to  an  acquittal. 

6th.  He  claimed  a  discharge,  because  as  an  officer  in 
the  Confederate  army  he  was  entitled  to  the  terms  agreed 
to  between  Generals  Sherman  and  Johnston  upon  the 
surrender  of  the  latter. 

These  several  pleas,  except  as  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
court,  were  overruled,  and  the  prisoner  then  put  in  the 
plea  of  "  Not  Guilty." 

To  sustain  the  charges  there  were  examined  one  hund 
red  and  seven  witnesses.  The  trial  was  concluded  on 
the  4th  of  November,  having  continued  for  seventy-three 
consecutive  days. 


ANDERSCXNTILLE.  163 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Argument  of  Judge  Advocate. 

Nay  it  please  the  Court  : 

Deeply  sensible  of  the  importance  and  solemnity  with 
which  you  have  clothed  this  trial,  and  quickened,  as  I 
know  you  are,  to  a  high  sense  of  duty  by  the  obligation 
you  have  taken  to  "  well  and  truly  try  and  determine, 
according  to  the  evidence,  the  matter  now  before  you  be 
tween  the  United  States  of  America  and  the  prisoner  to 
be  tried,  and  to  duly  administer  justice  according  to  your 
conscience,  the  best  of  your  understanding,  and  the  cus 
tom  of  war,"  no  word  of  mine  is  needed  to  increase  the' 
impressiveness  of  this  occasion. 

In  many  of  its  aspects  and  bearings  this  trial  presents 
features  more  startling,  more  extraordinary,  and  more 
momentous  than  are  found  in  the  whole  annals  of  juris 
prudence.  The  charges  and  specifications  here  laid  ac 
cuse  this  prisoner  and  other  persons,  named  and  un 
named,  with  having  "  maliciously,  traitorously,  and  in  vio 
lation  of  the  laws  of  war,  conspired  to  impair  and  injure 
the  health,  and  to  destroy  the  lives,  by  subjecting  to  tor 
ture  and  great  suffering,  by  confining  in  unhealthy  and 
unwholesome  quarters,  by  exposing  to  the  inclemency 
of  winter,  to  the  dews  and  burning  sun  of  summer,  by 
compelling  the  use  of  impure  water,  and  by  furnishing 
insufficient  and  unwholesome  food,  of  large  numbers  of 


164  ANDEESONVILLE. 

soldiers  in  the  military  service  of  the  United  States,  held 
as  prisoners  of  war  at  Anderson ville,  Georgia,  by  the  so- 
called  Confederate  States  of  America,  to  the  end  that  the 
armies  of  the  United  States  might  be  weakened  and  im 
paired,  and  the  insurgents  engaged  in  armed  rebellion 
against  the  United  States  might  be  aided  and  com 
forted." 

I  invoke,  gentlemen,  your  calm  deliberation,  your  most 
dispassionate  and  humane  judgment,  while  I  unfold  the 
proofs  of  guilt. 

In  a  field  so  broad,  presenting  so  many  issues  and  in 
volving  so  many  persons,  it  has  been  a  question  of  grave 
thought  with  me  how  to  present  the  argument  in  this 
case,  my  desire  being  only  to  give  to  the  Court  a  per 
spicuous  and  faithful  analysis  of  the  testimony,  nothing 
extenuating,  and  setting  down  naught  in  malice. 

With  this  view,  I  have  thought  it  best  to  notice, 

1st.  Such  legal  objections  as  have  been  made  to  the 
Commission  as  a  judicial  tribunal,  and  such  other  objec 
tions  as  may  be  deemed  worthy  of  notice  touching  the 
manner  in  which  the  case  has  been  tried. 

2d.  To  present  a  truthful  analysis  of  the  testimony, 
without  regard  to  the  responsibilities  of  the  parties,  for 
the  purpose  of  ascertaining,  as  nearly  as  language  can 
portray  them,  the  horrors  of  Andersonville,  that  we  may 
be  prepared  to  appreciate  fully  the  fearful  responsibility 
of  those  inculpated  by  the  evidence. 

3d.  To  examine  charge  first,  alleging  conspiracy ;  in 
this  connection  showing  the  extent  of  the  conspiracy,  its 
purposes,  and  the  criminality  of  each  of  the  conspirators ; 
and, 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  165 

4th.  To  show  the  guilt  of  the  prisoner  at  the  bar  under 
charge  second,  alleging  murder  in  violation  of  the  laws 
of  war. 

JURISDICTION  OF  THE  COURT. 

Among  the  numerous  special  pleas  filed  by  the  coun 
sel  denying  the  right  of  the  court  to  try  the  prisoner, 
there  is  but  one,  I  believe,  which  has  not  been  abandoned : 
this  is  the  plea  to  the  jurisdiction. 

I  can  hardly  suppose  that  any  member  of  this  Com 
mission  entertains  a  doubt  on  this  point,  yet  I  do  not  feel 
at  liberty  to  pass  unnoticed  a  question  so  seriously  made, 
and  about  which  honest  and  loyal  men  differ.  If  there 
be  neither  law,  safe  precedent,  nor  right  upon  which  to 
base  this  proceeding,  then  it  is  a  serious  assumption  of 
power,  and  alike  dangerous  to  yourselves  and  the  pris 
oner,  and  one  in  the  exercise  of  which  the  order  of  his 
excellency  the  President  will  not  protect  you.  While  I 
have  yet  to  read  the  adverse  opinion  of  a  single  lawyer 
given  outside  the  court-room  who  speaks  from  the  stand 
point  of  one  who  knows  from  the  teachings  of  experience 
how  strong  has  been,  and  is  still,  the  necessity  of  check 
ing  and  punishing  crimes  against  the  laws  of  war  com 
mitted  in  rebellious  districts  during  and  in  aid  of  rebel 
lion  against  the  government,  yet  it  must  be  conceded 
that  there  is  color  of  reason  in  the  argument,  and  it  is 
because  with  great  persistency  your  right  to  proceed  is 
denied  that  I  shall  presume  to  address  myself  to  this 
question. 

As  we  recede  from  a  state  of  actual  war  and  approach 
a  condition  of  profound  peace,  we  doubtless  travel  away 


166  ANDERSONVILLE. 

from  the  corner-stone  upon  which  the  Military  Commis 
sion  as  a  judicial  tribunal  rests;  but  that  your  right  to 
try  the  case  before  you  is  disturbed  by  a  mere  suspension 
of  hostilities  on  the  part  of  rebels  in  the  field,  while  the 
spirit  of  rebellion  is  still  rampant,  I  do  not  for  a  mo 
ment  suppose,  and  in  a  very  brief  resume  of  the  argu 
ment  on  the  subject  I  hope  to  make  it  so  appear.  As  I 
view  this  question  of  jurisdiction,  it  is  one  of  both  law 
and  fact,  to  determine  which  each  case  must  rest  upon 
its  own  merit. 

It  involves  a  question  of  law  in  determining  whether 
a  court  of  this  kind  can  be  legally  constituted,  and  a 
question  of  fact  as  to  whether  the  present  case  can  be 
thus  tried ;  for  a  military  court  may  be  properly  consti 
tuted,  yet  the  case  brought  before  it  not  properly  triable 
by  it. 

If  this  be  true,  the  subject  may  be  disposed  of  in  the 
examination  of  the  following  questions :  1st.  Has  the 
President  of  the  United  States  the  constitutional  power 
to  convene  a  Military  Commission  for  the  trial  of  milita 
ry  offenses  committed  in  time  of  war?  2d.  Is  the  case 
triable  by  a  Military  Commission  ? 

I  believe  it  is  not  claimed  by  any  that  the  power  as 
sumed  by  the  President  in  Convening  this  Commission 
for  the  purpose  named  in  the  order  dwells  in  him  except 
in  time  of  war  and  great  public  danger,  or  during  insur 
rection  or  rebellion. 

Your  jurisdiction  is  a  special  one,  resting  upon  no 
written  law,  but  derived  wholly  from  the  war  powers  of 
the  President  and  Congress,  which  are  themselves  deriv 
able  from  the  Constitution.  If  it  can  be  shown  to  safely 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  167 

rest  upon  these,  you  become  invested  not  only  with  a 
right,  but  a  high  duty  to  sustain  it  in  due  obedience  to 
the  proper  order  of  your  commander-in-chief.  On  an 
examination  of  the  opinions  expressed  against  the  right 
claimed,  you  will  discover  the  argument  rests  upon  the 
negative  declarations  or  prohibitory  clauses  of  our  funda 
mental  law,  denying  to  Congress  the  exercise  of  certain 
powers,  as,  for  example,  "  no  person  shall  be  held  to  an 
swer  for  a  capital  or  otherwise  infamous  crime  unless  on 
presentment  or  indictment  of  a  grand  jury,"  etc. ;  "  in  all 
criminal  prosecutions  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right 
of  a  speedy  and  public  trial  by  an  impartial  jury,"  etc. 
(Articles  Y.  and  VI,  Amendments  to  the  Constitution) ; 
"the  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment, 
shall  be  by  jury,"  etc.  (Art.  II.,  Sect.  2,  Constitution). 

Whatever  else  may  be  brought  into  the  argument, 
these  and  kindred  clauses  are  the  real  source  of  com 
plaint  whence  a  misguided  loyalty,  a  supertechnical  judg 
ment  have  found  reason  for  withholding  this  approval 
of  the  measures  adopted  by  the  government  to  the  Mili 
tary  Commission  to  aid  in  suppressing  a  rebellion  for  its 
overthrow. 

And  hence  you  are  told  gravely  the  act  of  the  Presi 
dent  is  a  usurpation  of  power — this  court  without  a  legal 
existence — your  proceedings  a  nullity.  For  a  moment 
let  us  try  and  ascertain  the  purpose  of  those  who  framed 
the  Constitution,  and  by  fair  interpretation  arrive  at  the 
true  meaning  of  that  great  chart  of  liberty. 

Alexander  Hamilton  wrote  at  the  time  the  Constitu 
tion  was  being  canvassed  before  the  people  for  final 
adoption, {{ The  circumstances  that  endanger  the  safety 


168  ANDERSON  VILLE. 

*of  nations  are  infinite,  and  for  this  reason  no  constitution 
al  shackles  can  wisely  be  imposed  on  the  power  to  which 

the  care  of  it  is  committed This  is  one  of  those 

truths  which,  to  a  correct  and  unprejudiced  mind,  carries 
its  own  evidence  along  with  it,  and  may  be  obscured,  but 
can  not  be  made  plainer  by  argument  or  reasoning.  The 
means  ought  to  be  proportioned  to  the  end;  the  person 
from  whose  agency  the  attainment  of  any  end  is  expect 
ed  ought  to  possess  the  means  by  which  it  is  to  be  at 
tained."— Federalist,  No.  23. 

Mr.  Madison,  in  speaking  of  the  impossibility  of  antici 
pating  the  exigencies  which  might  arise,  and  the  futility 
of  legislating  for  what  could  not  be  anticipated,  at  the 
same  time  that  the  powers  as  granted  to  the  President 
and  Congress  are  now  ample  for  every  emergency,  sa}^s, 
"It  is  vain  to  impose  constitutional  barriers  to  the  im 
pulse  of  self-preservation.  It  is  worse  than  in  vain,  be 
cause  it  plants  in  the  Constitution  itself  necessary  usur 
pations  of  power." — Ibid.,  No.  41.  Many  years  later,  and 
after  its  adoption,  with  such  light  flooded  upon  it  as  the 
great  minds  of  those  early  days  could  shed,  Mr.  Adams, 
in  unequivocal  phrase,  enunciated  the  same  idea.  In 
speaking  of  the  authority  of  Congress  in  time  of  war,  he 
says,  "  All  the  powers  incident  to  war  are  by  necessary 
implication  conferred  upon  the  government  of  the  United 
States There  are,  then,  in  the  authority  of  Con 
gress  and  of  the  executive,  two  classes  of  powers,  alto 
gether  different  in  their  nature,  and  often  imcompatible 
with  each  other  —  the  war  power  and  the  peace  power. 
The  peace  power  is  limited  by  regulations  and  restricted 
by  provisions  prescribed  within  the  Constitution  itself. 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  169 

The  war  power  is  limited  only  by  the  laws  and  usages 
of  nations. 

"This  power  is  tremendous :  it  is  strictly  constitution 
al,  but  it  breaks  down  every  barrier  so  anxiously  erected 
for  the  protection  of  liberty,  of  property,  and  of  life." 

These  are  bold  words,  uttered  when  civil  war  was  not 
impending,  when  a  powerful  rebellion  to  overthrow  this 
great  nation  could  hardly  have  been  anticipated — the 
opinion  of  a  great  mind  and  a  pure  patriot,  with  judg-/ 
ment  free  from  tyranny  of  partisan  clamor,  they  come  to 
us  with  all  the  force  of  law  itself. 

Do  you  find  difficulty  in  reconciling  these  constitu 
tional  incompatibilities?  Your  statute  punishes  assault 
and  battery ;  yet  a  law  underlying  the  statute,  not  ex 
pressed,  says  you  may  resist  force  with  force,  and  this 
well -grounded  rule  will  allow  you  to  defend  yourself 
even  to  the  slaying  of  your  antagonist.  Necessity  knows 
no  law  inadequate  to  its  demands,  and  self-preservation 
antedates  all  laws. 

Who  shall  say  that  a  government  in  whose  perpetua 
tion  rest  the  hopes  of  the  world ;  a  Constitution  broad 
enough  and  liberal  enough  to  protect  the  rights  of  all 
over  whom  it  reaches ;  a  people  whose  confidence  in  the 
perfection  of  this  form  of  government  four  years  of  in 
ternecine  war  have  not  shaken  —  who  shall  say  that 
these  are  denied  nature's  first  law ;  no,  those  lawgivers 
and  wise  men  of  olden  and  modern  times  spoke  truly 
when  they  laid  the  doctrine  down  that  the  principle  of 
self-preservation  belongs  to  nations  no  less  than  to  indi 
viduals,  and  that  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  a  nation  to 
cede  away  this  right. 

II 


170  ANDERSON  VILLE. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  has  in  nu 
merous  decisions  declared  that  Congress  and  the  execu 
tive  possess  the  right  to  do  whatever  the  public  safety 
may  require  to  suppress  rebellion  or  repel  invasion  (4 
Wheaton,  420 ;  12  Wheaton,  119-128 ;  8  Cranch,  15). 

This  opinion  was  entertained  by  the  fathers  of  the  Con 
stitution,  and  is  found  embodied  in  Congressional  legisla 
tion  as  early  as  1792,  reiterated  in  1795  and  1807,  which 
seem  to  have  been  statutes  made  to  meet  just  such  an 
emergency  as  this  war  brought  upon  us.  (In  statutes  at 
large,  vol.  ii.,  p.  264,  424 ;  vol.  iv.,  p.  419.) 

In  12th  Wheaton  (Martin  vs.  Mott),  Mr.  Justice  Story, 
in  an  opinion  sustaining  the  constitutionality  of  these 
laws,  says :  "  The  President  is  the  exclusive  judge  of  the 
exigency,  and  his  action  must  be  conclusive  of  the  exi 
gency,"  thus  taking  from  the  Supreme  Court  the  right 
to  impeach  the  President's  judgment.  This  same  opinion 
is  sustained  in  Luther  vs.  Borden  (Howard,  42, 43). 

I  suppose  it  will  not  be  denied  that  war  changes  the 
relations  of  all  parties  brought  into  antagonism  as  bellig 
erents  by  it.  No  one  can  attack  me  without  forfeiting 
his  right  for  redress  if  I  injure  him  by  proper  resistance 
without  resorting  to  the  forms  of  law  to  make  him  keep 
the  peace,  and  no  one  can  levy  war  upon  our  govern 
ment  without  placing  himself  beyond  the  protecting  aggis 
of  the  Constitution. 

It  must  be  remembered,  when  objection  is  made  to  the 

^  exercise  of  this  necessary  power  by  the  President,  that 

what  might  be  a  good  plea  for  a  loyal  citizen  who  has 

committed  a  civil  offense  against  the  criminal  statutes  of 

the  land,  is  not  a  good  plea  for  a  traitor  who  is  on  trial 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  171 

for  the  commission  of  a  military  offense  against  the  laws 
of  war. 

As  we  are  endeavoring  to  determine  whether  the 
President  can  by  right  exercise  the  power  to  organize  a 
court  for  the  trial  of  military  offenses  committed  by  those 
not  in  the  military  service,  it  may  not  be  necessary  to 
pursue  this  line  of  argument  farther.  Let  me,  however, 
place  by  antithesis  some  things  expressly  prohibited  in 
the  Constitution,  but  which  is  generally  conceded  may 
be  done  in  time  of  war. 

"The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  state  a 
republican  form  of  government.  .  .  .  and  shall  protect 
each  of  them  against  invasion"  (Constitution,  Article 
IV.,  Section  4) ;  yet  the  whole  power  of  the  government 
has  been  concentrated  in  one  grand  invasion  of  the  South 
for  four  years. 

"  The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons, 
houses,  papers,  etc.,  against  search,  etc.,  shall  not  be  vio 
lated,  and  no  warrant  shall  issue  but  upon  probable  cause 
supported  by  oath,"  etc.  (Amendment  to  the  Constitu 
tion,  Article  IV.) ;  yet  I  suspect  an  action  of  trespass 
would  not  lie  against  the  officer  who  broke  open  certain 
escritoirs,  bringing  to  light  the  proofs  of  conspiracies  en 
tered  into  by  leading  rebels  South  and  North  to  poison, 
burn,  assassinate. 

"JSTo  soldier,  in  time  of  war,  shall  be  quartered  in  any 
house  without  the  consent  of  the  owner  but  in  a  manner 
to  be  prescribed  by  law"  (Amendment  to  the  Constitu 
tion,  Article  III.) ;  yet  it  was  hardly  expected  that  our 
generals  in  an  enemy's  country  would  consult  the  stat 
utes  "in  such  case  made  and  provided." 


172  ANDERSON  VILLE. 

"  The  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  shall 
not  be  infringed"  (Ibid.,  Article  II.) ;  yet  that  general  or 
executive  who  would,  fearing  to  violate  this  right,  permit 
the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle  or  any  other  hostile 
combination  to  organize  and  menace  the  government, 
could  hardly  defend  himself  before  his  country. 

"The  freedom  of  speech  shall  not  be  abridged"  (Ibid., 
Article  II.);  yet  who  would  hesitate  to  say  that  the  in- 
citer  of  treason  by  speech  is  no  less  a  traitor  than  he  who 
raises  his  hand  against  his  government? 

"Private  property  shall  not  be  taken  without  just 
compensation"  (Ibid.,  Article  Y.) ;  yet  during  the  rebel 
lion  millions  of  dollars'  worth  have  been  seized  and  used 
for  military  purposes  without  any  process  of  law  what 
ever,  and  millions  more  have  been  libeled  under  the  Con 
fiscation  Act  of  Congress,  and  converted  to  public  use 
without  just  compensation.  Who  so  bold  as  to  deny  the 
principle  upon  which  this  has  been  done  ? 

Article  IV.,  Section  11,  of  the  Constitution  provides 
for  the  recapture  of  slaves  escaping  to  free  states ;  and  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  has  also  pledged 
the  Federal  government  to  protect  the  right  thus  se 
cured  to  slaveowners ;  against  and  in  violation  of  which 
rises  like  a  pillar  of  fire  the  Proclamation  of  Freedom, 
apotheosizing  its  author — the  crowning  glory  of  his  ad 
ministration — the  highest  proof  that  our  cause  is  ap 
proved  in  the  Forum  conscientioe.  How  can  there  be  such 
antagonism  in  our  Magna  Charta  ?  How  are  these  things 
defensible?  They  are  the  incompatibilities  of  which  Mr. 
Madison  speaks. 

We  see  here  the  harmony,  at  the  same  time  the  con- 


ANDERSONVILLE.  173 

flict,  between  the  war  powers  and  the  peace  powers  of 
which  Mr.  Adams  speaks;  and  there  is  presented  in 
strong  light  the  adaptation  of  means  to  ends  which  Mr. 
Hamilton  insists  upon;  and,  above  all,  that  inherent 
power  which  spurns  all  barriers,  and  grounds  itself  upon 
great  first  principles;  dwells  always  with  the  source  of 
all  power,  and  is  inseparable  from  it — the  people ;  and 
declares  as  fearlessly  as  it  battles  that,  in  times  of  war, 
of  great  public  danger,  laws  and  constitutions  are  silent 
if  they  stand  in  the  way  of  the  nation's  life. 

But  it  is  said  that  Congress  may  have  the  power  to 
create  Military  Commissions ;  yet,  as  it  has  not  done  so, 
or  conferred  that  right  upon  the  President,  it  is  therefore 
an  unwarrantable  assumption. 

It  seems  to  me  that,  as  the  Constitution  expressly  con 
fers  no  power  of  this  kind  upon  Congress,  it  matters  little 
whether  Congress  or  the  President  exercise  it;  and  if 
one  can  do  so,  with  equal  right  can  the  other. 

The  whole  question  still  rests  upon  necessity,  to  meet 
which  the  neglect  of  one  will  not  excuse  the  other.  Still 
inquiring  whether  this  can  be  done  in  any  case,  let  us 
recur  a  moment  to  opinions  contemporaneously  with  the 
Constitution. 

We  began  our  struggle  for  independence  under  the 
Articles  of  Confederation,  and  it  is  well  known  that  the 
colonies  reserved  all  rights  to  themselves  not  expressly 
delegated  to  the  Confederacy. 

Then,  as  now,  there  were  traitors,  whose  crimes,  par 
taking  of  the  nature  of  military  offenses,  were  made  pun 
ishable  by  military  courts.  If  you  will  examine  the 
legislation  of  the  country,  it  will  be  found  that,  from  1775 


174  ANDERSONVILLE. 

down  to  the  present  time,  authority  has  been  conferred 
upon  military  courts  to  try  civilians  for  the  commission 
of  certain  offenses.  (See  Acts  of  Congress,  7th  Novem 
ber,  1775 ;  17th  June,  1776 ;  27th  February,  1778 ;  23d 
April,  1800 ;  10th  April,  1806 ;  13th  February,  1862 ; 
17th  July,  1862.)  Congress  conferred  this  jurisdiction 
on  both  courts-martial  and  Military  Commissions,  until 
during  this  war,  however,  resorting  to  the  court-martial. 

Now  it  has  been  frequently  decided  by  the  Supreme 
Court  that  a  court-martial  is  a  tribunal  provided  for  in 
the  rules  and  articles  of  war,  but  with  a  jurisdiction  lim 
ited  to  military  persons  as  well  as  military  offenses,  so 
that  it  is  as  much  a  usurpation  to  try  a  civilian  by  court- 
martial  as  before  a  Military  Commission.  Admitting 
this,  we  find  ourselves  strongly  fortified  by  these  early 
enactments,  especially  in  the  light  of  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court. 

Stewart  vs.  Laird  (2  Cranch,  299)  decides  that  "  a  con 
temporary  exposition  or  construction  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  acquiesced  in  for  a  period  of  years,  fixes  it  beyond 
the  reach  of  doubt;"  and  we  are  compelled  to  conclude 
that  the  power  assumed  grows  out  of  a  necessity  of  which 
Congress  or  the  President  must  judge  at  the  time. 

Many  things  are  proper  to  be  done  in  time  of  peace 
which  in  time  of  war  become  high  crimes.  No  criminal 
code  and  no  civil  criminal  tribunal  can  reach  these ;  they 
are  incident  to,  and  grow  out  of,  a  state  of  war. 

Every  student  of  history,  whether  or  not  he  may  have 
studied  law,  understands  this.  It  is  a  timid  loyalty,  a 
yielding  to  doubtful  and  hasty  clamor,  that  during  this 
war  questioned  a  practice  sanctioned  by  all  nations,  and 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  175 

begun  on  this  continent  contemporary  with  the  Consti 
tution. 

But,  again,  a  declaration  of  war  institutes  a  code  of 
laws  for  the  government  of  the  belligerents  known  as 
the  law  of  nations.  Arid  this  is  true  of  an  insurrection 
as  well  as  of  foreign  war,  so  that  we  are  to  look  more  to 
the  customs  of  nations  than  to  our  own  Constitution  for 
our  guides.  We  have  enumerated  some  of  our  constitu 
tional  guarantees  intended  to  protect  all  persons,  but  it 
will  hardly  be  pretended  that  rebels,  war-traitors,  assas 
sins  in  aid  of  rebellion,  banditti,  guerrillas,  and  spies 
could  plead  them,  or  derive  any  immunity  by  them.  The 
true  guide  and  the  highest  law  is  the  law  of  war  and  the 
customs  of  civilized  nations.  From  a  recent  opinion  of 
the  present  attorney  general,  given  in  support  of  the  com 
mission  for  the  trial  of  the  President's  assassins,  taking 
this  view,  I  extract  the  following:  "  A  military  tribunal 
exists  under  and  according  to  the  Constitution  in  time 
of  war.  Congress  may  prescribe  how  all  such  tribunals 
are  to  be  constituted,  what  shall  be  their  jurisdiction  and 
mode  of  procedure.  Should  Congress  fail  to  create  such 
tribunals,  then,  under  the  Constitution,  they  must  be  con 
stituted  according  to  the  laws  and  usages  of  civilized 
warfare,  and  they  may  take  cognizance  of  such  offenses 
as  the  laws  of  war  permit. 

"  That  the  law  of  nations  constitute  a  part  of  the  laws 
of  the  land  is  established  from  the  face  of  the  Constitu 
tion  upon  principle  and  by  authority."  (See  also  Opin 
ions  of  Attorney  General,  vol.  i.,  page  27 ;  5th  "Wheaton, 
153.) 

He  there  proceeds  to  show  that  an  army  has  to  deal 


176  ANDERSONVILLE. 

with  two  classes  of  enemies,  one  of  which  is  the  open, 
active  belligerent  or  soldier  in  uniform,  who  observes  the 
laws  of  war ;  the  other  is  a  violator  of  the  laws  of  war 
and  usages  of  civilized  nations,  who,  when  caught,  may 
be  shot  down  as  an  enemy  to  the  human  race,  or  tried 
by  military  courts,  and  subjected  to  such  punishment  as 
the  laws  of  war  authorize.  Here,  as  before,  we  see  that 
the  only  safe  rule  is  to  place  in  the  hands  of  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  army,  or  his  subordinates  acting 
under  proper  orders,  full  and  exclusive  discretion  as  to 
the  means  to  be  used  to  protect  the  existence  of  his  army, 
subject  only  to  be  held  responsible  for  the  abuse  of  the 
discretion  so  conferred. 

And  whether  he  resort  to  a  Military  Commission, 
court-martial,  drum -head  court,  summary  and  instanta 
neous  execution,  right  reason  and  wise  public  policy  must 
sustain  him  so  long  as  he  keeps  within  the  code  of  civ 
ilized  nations.  I  do  not  think  it  necessary  to  notice  the 
distinction  made  between  martial  law  and  military  law, 
your  guide  being,  as  I  conceive  it,  the  law  of  nations 
rather  than  either. 

I  might  remark,  however,  that  military  law  is  a  part 
\  of  the  law  of  the  land  in  times  of  peace  and  war;  but 
martial  law  is  an  incident  of  war,  and  may  or  may  not 
be  declared.  I  do  not  rest  your  right,  however,  to  sit 
as  a  Military  Commission  upon  the  action  of  the  Presi 
dent  in  this  particular.  He  may  not  have  declared  mar 
tial  law  to  be  in  force,  still  your  existence  be  legal.  He 
may  not  have  suspended  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  still 
your  jurisdiction  be  undisturbed.  To  declare  martial 
law  is  one  act  of  war  power,  to  suspend  the  writ  of 


ANDERSONVILLE.  177 

habeas  corpus  another,  to  order  this  court  to  try  the  pris 
oner  before  it  another. 

It  is  an  error  to  suppose  there  must  be  an  enemy  men 
acing  you  pendente  lite,  a  declaration  of  war,  a  suspen 
sion  of  trial  by  civil  tribunal,  before  you  can  proceed. 
The  civil  courts  may  be  in  never  so  complete  operation, 
the  enemy  in  a  remote  part  of  the  country,  and  the  place 
of  trial  in  the  midst  of  a  peaceful  portion  of  the  land ; 
still,  if  there  be  a  necessity,  and  the  offense  be  properly 
punishable  by  the  laws  of  war,  the  duty  at  once  falls 
upon  the  proper  officer  to  meet  that  necessity  as  the  pub 
lic  safety  may  require.  I  believe  this  view  to  be  sus 
tained  by  the  best  military  writers,  and  a  legitimate  se 
quence  of  the  argument  in  support  of  Military  Commis 
sions. 

The  practice  of  European  powers  confirms  this  opinion, 
the  right  having  never  been  seriously  questioned,  but  its 
abuse  being  provided  for  by  bills  of  indemnity.  If  far 
ther  precedent  be  required,  it  is  amply  presented  in  the 
action  of  President  Washington  during  the  "Whisky  In 
surrection"  of  179-i  and  1795,  of  President  Jefferson  dur 
ing  the  "Burr  Conspiracy"  of  1806,  of  General  Jackson 
in  1814  at  New  Orleans,  and  afterward  in  Florida;  in  all 
of  which  cases,  though  of  infinitely  less  moment  com 
pared  with  the  exigencies  growing  out  of  the  present 
war,  it  was  enunciated  that  whatever  the  existing  neces 
sity  demands  must  be  done.  (See  Halleck,  Internation 
al  Law,  page  371,  380,  and  cases  cited.) 

SECOND.  Having  presented  sufficient  reason  for  con 
cluding  that  the  President  has  usurped  no  authority  and 
violated  no  law  in  constituting  you  a  military  court  for 

112 


178  ANDEESONVILLE. 

the  trial  of  military  offenses,  it  remains  to  notice  whether 
the  present  case  comes  within  the  scope  of  your  jurisdic 
tion.  Here,  I  think,  we  will  have  less  difficulty,  as  it  is 
more  a  question  of  fact  than  law. 

This  prisoner  is  charged  with  the  perpetration  of  of 
fenses,  many  of  them  unknown  to  common  law  or  statute 
law ;  they  were  committed  by  a  belligerent  in  his  own 
territory,  in  the  exercise  of  a  commission  assigned  him 
by  the  enemy,  and  given  in  violation  of  the  laws  of  war, 
the  execution  of  the  orders  of  his  superiors.  The  gov 
ernment  he  served  never  did  or  can  try  him ;  no  civil 
"tribunal  is  possessed  of  power ;  the  duty,  then,  as  I  think, 
devolves  upon  you.  But  it  is  said  the  war  is  over ;  there 
is  no  longer  any  necessity  of  military  tribunals ;  and  how 
ever  proper  in  times  of  war  and  public  danger  to  assume 
the  functions  of  civil  courts,  there  is  now  no  reason  for 
doing  so. 

If  it  were  necessary,  I  would  traverse  the  fact.  The  war 
is  not  over.  True,  the  muskets  of  treason  are  stacked, 
the  armies  of  the  rebellion  are  dissolved,  some  of  the 
leaders  are  in  exile,  others  are  in  prison,  but  by  far  the 
largest  portion,  sullen,  silent,  vengeful,  stand  ready  to  seize 
every  opportunity  to  divide  the  loyal  sentiment  of  the 
country,  and,  with  spirit  unbroken  and  defiant,  would 
this  day  raise  the  standard  of  rebellion  if  they  dared 
hope  for  success.  This  opinion  of  the  war  still  existing 
is  not  mine  alone.  The  attorney  general,  in  his  return 
to  Judge  Wylie's  writ  of  habeas  corpus  issued  for  the  sur 
render  of  the  body  of  Mrs.  Surrat,  spoke  of  it  in  that 
sense. 

Congress,  in  many  of  its  enactments,  provided  for  a 


ANDEESONVILLE.  179 

state  of  war  after  a  cessation  of  hostilities.  The  whole 
policy  of  the  government  toward  the  Southern  States 
sustains  this  idea. 

The  President,  by  suspending  Judge  Wylie's  writ  in 
the  Burch  case  on  the  16th  of  September,  since  this  trial 
began,  adherence  to  President  Lincoln's  proclamation  of 
martial  law,  and  his  declining  to  take  any  action  that 
might  be  construed  into  a  proclamation  of  peace,  all  show 
beyond  doubt  that  the  time  of  public  danger  has  not 
passed. 

But,  however  this  may  be,  with  the  fact  you  have  noth 
ing  to  do.  The  President,  by  constituting  you  a  court  to 
try  this  prisoner,  has  by  that  act  alone  declared  the  pres 
ence  of  a  public  danger,  and  that  a  necessity  exists  to 
still  cling  to  military  tribunals  for  the  punishment  of 
military  offenses,  and  it  is  beyond  your  power  to  dispute 
his  judgment.  You  may,  perhaps,  pass  upon  the  ques 
tion  as  to  whether  you  are  a  court,  but  as  to  the  emerg 
ency  requiring  you  to  try  and  punish  this  prisoner,  if 
guilty,  the  President  is  the  sole  judge.  The  Supreme 
Court  has  so  decided,  as  we  have  before  seen. 

I  hope  then,  gentlemen,  you  may  find  it  not  against 
your  consciences  or  judgment  to  proceed  to  a  final  ver 
dict  in  this  case,  and  that  you  may  illustrate  the  wisdom 
expressed  in  the  judicial  opinion  of  one  of  our  most  emi 
nent  jurists,  given  in  4  Wheaton,  316  :  "  The  government 
of  the  Union  is  a  government  of  the  people ;  it  emanates 
from  them,  its  powers  are  granted  by  them,  and  are  to  be 
exercised  for  their  benefit;  and  the  government  which 
has  a  right  to  do  and  act,  and  has  imposed  upon  it  the 
duty  of  performing  the  act,  must,  according  to  the  dictates 
of  reason,  be  allowed  to  select  the  means." 


180  ANDERSONVILLE. 

Having  thus  disposed  of  the  question  of  jurisdiction,  I 
ask  indulgence  a  moment  to  notice  some  of  the  objec 
tions  which  have  been  made  by  the  counsel  for  this  pris 
oner  during  the  progress  of  the  trial. 

I  am  not  prepared  to  believe  that  this  court  would 
stultify  itself  by  declaring  that  their  action,  after  argu 
ment  pro  and  con  as  to  admissibility  of  evidence,  over 
ruling  of  motions  or  pleas,  or  sustaining  the  same,  was 
wrong,  and  that  they  now  desire  to  correct  it ;  however, 
as  the  conduct  of  the  case  has  been  somewhat  criticised, 
and  as  the  counsel  who  declined  to  argue  the  defense  in- 
tirnated  that  a  large  part  of  his  address  would  have  been 
directed  to  those  objections,  and  has  asked  that  they  be 
not  wholly  overlooked,  I  think  it  not  entirely  out  of 
place  to  review  at  this  time  very  briefly  the  points  of 
objection.  It  has  been  frequently  asserted  in  court  by 
counsel  that  the  whole  power  of  the  government  was 
concentrated  upon  the  prosecution  of  this  prisoner,  and 
that  he,  single-handed  and  without  the  aid  of  the  govern 
ment,  has  been  conducting  his  defense.  It  is  well  known 
that  witnesses  for  the  defense  receive  a  per  diem  and 
their  actual  expenses  in  coming  to  the  court  and  return 
ing  to  their  homes.  The  record  of  this  court  will  show 
that  every  subpoena  asked  for  has  been  given  except  in 
the  cases  of  a  few  rebel  functionaries,  who,  for  reasons 
stated  at  the  time,  were  not  subpoenaed.  Of  this,  how 
ever,  there  should  be  no  complaint,  as  the  facts  which 
those  witnesses  were  expected  to  establish  were  shown 
by  other  witnesses,  and  as  a  proposition  was  made  by 
the  judge  advocate  to  admit  that  those  witnesses  thus 
excluded  would  testify  here  to  the  same  facts — a  propo- 


ANDERSONVILLE.  181 

sition  which  was  declined  by  the  counsel.  The  records 
of  this  court  will  also  show  that  there  have  been  one 
hundred  and  six  witnesses  subpoenaed  for  the  defense,  of 
whom  sixty-eight  reported.  Of  these,  thirty-nine,  many 
of  them  soldiers  of  our  army  and  sufferers  at  Anderson- 
ville,  were  discharged  without  being  put  upon  the  stand, 
the  counsel,  for  reasons  only  known  to  himself,  declining 
to  call  them.  Besides  this,  the  government  has,  without 
a  precedent,  furnished,  at  great  expense,  to  the  prisoner  a 
copy  of  the  record  from  day  to  day  during  the  progress 
of  the  trial.  The  government  has  also  given  his  coun 
sel  the  benefit  of  its  clerical  force,  and,  in  short,  shown 
the  prisoner  indulgences  which  should  forever  close  the 
mouth  of  one  whose  treatment  of  its  soldiers  was  in  such 
striking  contrast  that  he  must  have  felt  the  more  deeply 
his  guilt. 

Again,  it  has  been  frequently  complained  of  during 
the  trial  that  the  Court  has  excluded  the  declarations  of 
the  prisoner  made  in  his  own  behalf,  and  has  refused  to 
allow  him,  in  other  instances,  to  show  what  he  did.  I 
think  the  Court  will  remember  that  in  every  case  the 
whole  of  any  particular  transaction  has  been  given  for 
and  against  the  prisoner,  and  that  the  res  gestce,  properly 
so  called,  has  never  been  excluded.  All  the  prison  rec 
ords  in  the  possession  of  the  government  which  could 
throw  any  light  upon  the  case  are  in  evidence. 

The  prisoner  has  been  allowed  to  show  acts  of  kind 
ness  wherever  they  could  with  any  legal  propriety  be 
given,  as,  for  instance,  the  taking  of  drummer-boys  out 
of  the  stockade  because  of  their  youth ;  the  allowing 
Miss  Rawson  to  administer  to  the  wants  of  one  soldier : 


182  ANDERSON  VILLE. 

the  giving  of  passes  to  ministers  of  the  Gospel  to  enter 
the  stockade;  his  letters  and  reports  with  reference  to 
the  wants  of  the  prison ;  his  kindness  to  the  prisoners 
whom  he  detailed  for  duty  outside  the  stockade,  and 
many  other  things,  all  of  which  we  shall  show  hereafter, 
are  not  incompatible  with  the  idea  of  his  guilt.  But, 
even  admitting  more  than  is  claimed  or  proved  for  the 
prisoner  in  regard  to  his  urging  Winder  and  the  rebel 
authorities  to  do  certain  things,  the  law  is  clear  that  if  a 
party  remain  m  a  conspiracy,  though  protesting  against 
it,  and  seeking  to  escape  from  it,  or  if  he  continue  in  an 
unlawful  enterprise,  insisting  that  he  does  not  mean  to 
do  harm,  yet,  if  harm  results,  or  serious  and  criminal  con 
sequences  follow,  he  is  nevertheless  responsible.  If,  in 
the  course  of  one  year's  pursuit- of  an  illegal  business,  a 
stupendous  crime  indeed,  the  perpetrators  could  show 
less  than  this  prisoner  has  shown  in  his  favor,  he  would 
not  be  entitled  to  the  human  name. 

It  would  be  strange,  indeed,  if  this  record  of  five  thou 
sand  pages,  of  thirty-eight  days  of  weary,  laborious  trial, 
presented  no  wrong  rulings,  no  improper  exclusion  or 
admission  of  evidence  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  perti 
nent  to  some  issue  made ;  but  I  assert  with  all  confi 
dence,  and  with  honest  belief,  that  the  interests  of  this 
prisoner  have  not  been  and  can  not  be  affected  injurious 
ly  by  such  action  in  any  instance  that  can  be  named. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten,  and  to  this  I  call  the  special 
attention  of  the  counsel  and  of  the  Court,  that  nowhere 
in  this  record  can  there  be  found  the  exclusion  of  a  scin 
tilla  of  evidence  bearing  on  the  defense  to  the  charge  of 
murder,  and  to  which  this  prisoner  is  more  especially 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  183 

called  to  answer.  There  is  another  fact  to  which  I  would 
also  call  the  attention  of  the  counsel  and  the  Court,  and 
it  is  this  :  that  if,  after  a  careful  examination  of  the  evi 
dence,  there  be  sufficient  legal  proof  legally  spread  upon 
the  record,  you  must  proceed  with  your  finding  without 
regard  to  any  illegal  evidence,  and  not,  as  the  counsel 
would  insist,  declare  the  whole  record  vitiated.  This  is 
sustained  by  reason  and  by  law,  wherever  it  comes  up  to 
the  true  standard,  which,  after  all,  is  but  the  perfection  of 
human  reason.  The  only  instances  in  which  appellate 
courts  remand  cases  for  new  trial  is  where,  from  the  bill 
of  exceptions  presented,  they  can  not  determine  whether 
the  jury  were  or  were  not  misled  by  the  evidence  im 
properly  admitted ;  but  where  they  find  that  the  errors 
complained  of  were  not  material,  or  where  the  verdict  is 
sustained  after  disregarding  the  errors,  no  court  will  sub 
ject  the  parties  to  a  second  trial,  or  interpose  to  save  the 
complainant. 

Out  of  place  as  this  may  be  in  the  order  of  my  argu 
ment,  I  have  deemed  it  just  to  say  thus  much. 


184  ANDERSONVILLE. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Sufferings  at  Andersonville. 

2d.  WE  corne  now  to  notice  the  evidence  spread  upon 
the  record  with  regard  to  the  sufferings  of  Union  prison 
ers  at  Andersonville. 

CHARACTER  OF  TESTIMONY. 

It  is  argued  that  the  evidence  presenting  the  horrors 
of  Andersonville  is  not  of  that  class  which  is  entirely  re 
liable;  that  those  who  were  in  the  rebellion  have  been 
brought  here  forcibly  by  the  government,  and  made  to 
testify  in  anticipation  of  reward  by  pardon,  or  through 
fear  of  being  themselves  punished ;  and  that  the  evidence 
of  soldiers  who  were  sufferers  at  Andersonville  was  high 
ly  colored,  testifying  as  they  did  under  a  sense  of  the  in 
juries  inflicted  upon  them  while  prisoners,  and  warmed 
to  enthusiasm  in  the  enumeration  of  their  wrongs. 

I  need  only  say  in  reply  that  the  careful  observer  of 
this  trial  must  have  discovered  how  utterly  powerless 
has  been  the  language  of  witnesses  to  describe  the  real 
condition  of  affairs  at  Andersonville ;  that  where  science 
has  spoken  through  her  devotees,  where  inspectors  have 
tried  to  convey  a  correct  idea,  where  the  artist  has  sought 
to  delineate,  or  the  photographer  to  call  the  elements  to 
witness,  they  have  all  uniformly  declared  that,  with  all 
these  appliances,  nothing  has  presented  in  their  true  light 


ANDERSONVILLE.  185 

the  horrors  of  that  place.  The  evidence  before  you  is 
of  the  highest  character.  It  consists  of  many  kinds,  from 
many  directions :  from  persons  speaking  in  the  interest 
and  for  the  good  of  the  rebel  government ;  from  persons 
under  a  strong  sense  of  the  wrongs  done  these  miserable 
wretches ;  from  disinterested  observers  neither  in  the  one 
nor  in  the  other  army ;  and  from  the  injured  themselves. 
And  yet  there  is  a  most  striking  concurrence  in  all  this 
testimony,  all  agreeing  that  history  has  never  presented 
a  scene  of  such  gigantic  human  suffering.  If  I  can  suc 
ceed  in  presenting  to  your  mind  a  faithful  picture  of  An- 
dersonville  as  it  was,  or  make  such  an  analysis  and  group 
ing  of  the  testimony  as  to  show  to  the  civilized  world,  in 
a  tithe  of  its  horrors,  the  suffering  endured,  I  shall  have 
accomplished  all  I  can  hope,  and  shall  have  done  more 
than  I  fear  I  am  able  to  do. 

THE  STOCKADE. 

The  stockade  at  Andersonville  was  originally  built,  as 
we  learn  from  many  sources,  with  a  capacity  for  ten  thou 
sand,  its  area  being  about  eighteen  acres.  It  continued 
without  enlargement  until  the  month  of  June,  1864,  when 
it  was  increased  about  one  third,  its  area  then,  as  shown 
by  actual  survey,  being  twenty-three  and  a  half  acres. 
The  prison,  as  described  by  Dr.  Joseph  Jones,  a  surgeon 
of  the  rebel  army,  in  his  official  report  to  the  surgeon 
general,  consisted  of  a  strong  stockade  in  the  form  of  a 
parallelogram,  twenty  feet  in  height,  formed  of  strong 
pine  logs  firmly  planted  in  the  ground,  with  two  smaller 
surrounding  stockades,  one  sixteen  and  the  other  twelve 
feet  high,  these  latter  being,  as  he  says,  "  intended  for 


186  ANDERSONVILLE. 

offense  and  defense.  If  the  inner  stockade  should  at  any 
time  be  forced  by  the  prisoners,  the  second  forms  an 
other  line  of  defense ;  while,  in  case  of  an  attempt  to  de 
liver  the  prisoners  by  a  force  operating  upon  the  exte 
rior,  the  outer  line  forms  an  admirable  protection  to  the 
Confederate  troops,  and  a  most  formidable  obstacle  to 
cavalry  or  infantry"  (Record,  page  4328).  To  show  more 
clearly  the  strength  of  this  stockade,  I  quote  again  from 
Dr.  Jones's  Eeport :  "  The  four  angles  of  the  outer  line 
are  strengthened  by  earth-works  upon  commanding  em 
inences,  from  which  the  cannon,  in  case  of  an  outbreak 
among  the  prisoners,  may  sweep  the  entire  inclosure" 
(Record,  pages  4328  and  4329). 

On  the  outside  of  the  inner  stockade  were  erected 
thirty-five  sentry-boxes  or  watch-houses  overlooking  the 
area  within,  which  were  so  constructed  as  to  protect  the 
sentries  from  the  sun  and  rain.  From  Colonel  Chand 
ler's  Inspection  Report,  dated  August  5th,  1864, 1  quote 
the  following : 

"A  railing  around  the  inside  of  the  stockade,  and  about 
twenty  feet  from  it,  constitutes  the  'dead  line/  beyond 
which  prisoners  are  not  allowed  to  pass.  A  small  stream 
passes  from  west  to  east  through  the  inclosure,  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  its  southern  limit,  and  fur 
nishes  the  only  water  for  washing  accessible  to  the  pris 
oners.  Bordering  this  stream,  about  three  quarters  of  an 
acre  in  the  centre  of  the  inclosure  are  so  marshy  as  to  be 
at  present  unfit  for  occupation,  reducing  the  available 
present  area  to  about  twenty-three  and  a  half  acres,  which 
gives  somewhat  less  than  six  square  feet  to  each  pris 
oner  ;"  and,  he  remarks,  "  even  this  is  being  constantly 
reduced  by  the  additions  to  their  number." 


ANDERSONVILLE.  187 

From  the  beginning  to  the  close,  the  only  shelter  in  the 
prison,  was  such  as  the  ingenuity  of  the  prisoners  could 
devise,  all  the  standing  timber  and  undergrowth  having 
been  cut  away ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  shed, 
covered  but  not  inclosed,  stretching  across  a  portion  of 
the  north  end  of  the  stockade,  nothing  whatever  existed 
to  protect  the  prisoners  from  the  inclemency  of  the  weath 
er  or  the  intolerable  heat  of  that  climate. 

The  prison  was  entered  by  two  gates,  called  the  north 
and  south  gates ;  the  first  situated  a  short  distance  north 
of  the  bakery,  the  other  a  short  distance  from  the  south 
west  corner,  and  on  the  west  side. 

THE  COOK-HOUSE. 

Immediately  above  the  stockade,  and  on  the  stream 
passing  through  it,  was  situated  an  immense  cook-house, 
at  which  all  the  rations  provided  for  the  prisoners,  if 
cooked  at  all,  were  prepared.  The  drainage  and  offal  of 
this  bakery  passed  immediately  into  the  stream  running 
through  the  prison.  Still  above,  and  on  the  same  stream, 
were  located,  at  distances  varying  from  five  hundred 
yards  to  half  a  mile,  several  rebel  encampments.  These 
washed  into  the  stream,-  and  their  sinks  were  located 
on  it. 

THE  HOSPITAL. 

The  hospital,  which  was  erected  some  time  in  June, 
1864,  prior  to  which  time  the  sick  were  treated  under 
the  shed  already  referred  to  inside  the  stockade,  was  a 
stockade  inclosure  similar  to  the  prison,  situated  on  the 
south  side  of  the  prison,  about  four  hundred  yards  from 


188  ANDERSONVILLE. 

the  southeast  corner,  and  containing  five  and  a  half  acres. 
A  stream  of  water  passing  through  its  southeast  corner 
emptied  itself  into  the  stream  crossing  the  stockade  a  few 
yards  from  the  east  side  of  the  stockade.  Within  this 
inclosure  were  erected  for  hospital  buildings  long  sheds 
constructed  of  poles,  with  roofs  made  of  pine  boughs,  and 
in  some  instances  of  planks,  without  any  siding  or  other 
protection.  In  some  cases  wall  and  fly  tents,  much  worn 
and  in  very  bad  condition,  were  used.  This  constituted 
the  shelter  furnished  the  sick. 

THE  DEAD-HOUSE. 

The  dead-house  was  a  building  similar  to  one  of  the 
hospital  sheds,  except  that  it  was  partially  inclosed  by 
boards  and  puncheons  nailed  on  its  sides.  To  this  place 
the  dead  were  conveyed  upon  litters,  blankets,  stretchers, 
and  by  such  other  means  as  the  prisoners  could  devise, 
and  were  conveyed  thence  in  army  wagons,  about  twenty- 
five  in  each  load,  piled  up  "like  cord-wood,"  or  "as  a 
"Western  farmer  hauls  his  rails,"  as  one  of  the  witnesses 
told  you,  to  the  burying-ground,  which  was  situated  a 
few  hundred  yards  northwest  of  the  stockade. 

CONDITION  OF  THE  STOCKADE. 

Having  thus  given  an  outline  of  the  stockade,  the  hos 
pital,  and  their  surroundings,  let  us  inquire  into  the  con 
dition  of  each  of  these  places,  taking  first  the  stockade. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  the  testimony  is  drawn  from 
many  sources.  I  present, 

1st.  The  opinions  of  medical  officers  in  the  service  of 
the  rebel  government  on  duty  at  Andersonville  and  else- 


ANDERSONVILLE.  189 

where  at  the  time  these  sufferings  are  alleged  to  have 
been  endured. 

2d.  The  opinions  of  rebel  officers  assigned  to  the  spe 
cial  duty  of  investigating  the  condition  of  affairs  at  An 
derson  ville,  together  with  the  records  of  the  prison. 

3d.  The  opinions  and  observations  of  officers  and  sol 
diers  of  the  rebel  army  on  duty  at  Andersonville. 

4th.  The  observations  of  persons  residing  in  the  vicin 
ity  during  this  period,  and  who  paid  frequent  visits  to 
Andersonville;  and, 

5th.  The  testimony  of  the  prisoners  themselves. 

I  shall  endeavor  to  present  the  subject  in  the  order 
above  mentioned. 

TESTIMONY  OF  MEDICAL  OFFICERS. 

Among  the  earlier  official  inspections  given  to  this 
prison  was  that  of  Surgeon  E.  J.  Eldridge,  who  made  a 
report  pursuant  to  instructions  of  Major  General  Howell 
Cobb,  and  which  accompanied  the  report  of  that  general 
made  upon  the  same  subject  to  the  adjutant  general  of 
the  rebel  government  for  the  information  of  the  War 
Department,  and  which  reached  that  department  May 
21st,  186-1.  (See  Exhibit  15,  A.)  He  says:-' 'I  found  the 
prisoners,  in  my  opinion,  too  much  crowded  for  the  pro 
motion  or  for  the  continuance  of  their  health,  particularly 
during  the  approaching  summer  months.  The  construc 
tion  of  properly-arranged  barracks  would,  of  course,  al 
low  the  same  number  of  men  to  occupy  the  inclosure 
with  material  advantage  to  their  comfort  and  health.  At 
present  their  shelter  consists  of  such  as  they  can  make  of 
the  boughs  of  trees  and  poles  covered  with  dirt.  The 


190  ANDEKSONVILLE. 

few  tents  they  have  are  occupied  as  a  hospital I 

found  the  condition  of  a  large  number  of  the  Belle  Island 
prisoners  on  their  arrival  to  be  such  as  to  require  more 
attention  to  their  diet  and  cleanliness  than  the  actual  ad 
ministration  of  medicine,  very  many  of  them  suffering 
from  chronic  diarrhoea,  combined  with  scorbutic  disposi 
tion,  with  extreme  emaciation  as  the  consequence.  The 
hospital  being  within  the  inclosure,  it  has  been  found  im 
practicable  to  administer  such  diet  and  give  them  such 
attention  as  they  require,  as,  unless  constantly  watched, 
such  diet  as  is  prepared  for  them  is  stolen  and  eaten  by 
the  other  prisoners." 

He  then  proceeds  to  urge  upon  the  authorities  in  Eich- 
mond  the  necessity  of  removing  the  hospital.  On  this 
point  he  says,  "I  consider  the  establishment  of  a  hospi 
tal  outside  of  the  present  inclosure  as  essential  to  the 
proper  treatment  of  the  sick,  and  most  urgently  recom 
mend  its  immediate  construction."  And  to  meet  an  ob 
jection  which  he  says  was  made  at  Eichmond  to  do  this, 
because  additional  guards  would  be  required,  he  says, 
"Nurses  could  be  detailed  with  such  discretion  that  but 
few  would  attempt  to  escape,  and,  with  frequent  roll- 
calls,  they  would  not  be  absent  but  a  few  hours  before 
detected,  and  would  be  readily  caught  by  the  dogs,  al 
ways  at  hand  for  that  purpose." 

Up  to  this  time  no  baking  for  the  prisoners  existed, 
their  rations  being  issued  to  them  raw,  as  will  appear 
from  the  following  paragraph  in  the  report:  "The  bak 
ery  just  being  completed  will  be  a  means  of  furnishing 
better  prepared  food,  particularly  bread,  the  half-cooked 
condition  of  which  has  doubtless  contributed  to  the  con- 


ANDERSON  V1LLE.  191 

tinuancc  of  the  bowel  affections."  The  mean  strength 
of  prisoners  at  the  date  of  this  report,  as  shown  by  the 
journal  kept  by  the  prisoner,  was  about  fourteen  thou 
sand. 

-  -Thus  we  see  that  the  sufferings  at  Andersonville  were 
anticipated  as  early  as  May,  and  the  rebel  government 
duly  warned.  Of  that  question,  however,  hereafter.  ' — 

Without  pretending  to  analyze  the  evidence  of  each 
particular  medical  gentleman  who  has  testified  upon  this 
subject,  as  they  all  concur  in  the  general  facts  in  relation 
to  the  condition  of  the  stockade,  I  select  the  report  of 
one  of  the  most  intelligent  of  their  number,  quoting  him 
somewhat  fully.  The  gentleman  who  speaks  through 
the  report  I  am  about  to  give  is  Dr.  Joseph  Jones,  Pro 
fessor  of  Chemistry  in  the  Medical  College  of  Georgia,  a 
graduate  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  a  man 
of  eminence  in  his  profession.  lie  went  to  Anderson 
ville  under  the  direction  of  the  surgeon  general  of  the 
Confederacy,  pursuant  to  an  order  dated  Richmond,  Vir 
ginia,  August  6th,  186-1,  in  which  the  surgeon  general 
uses  the  following  language : 

"  The  field  of  pathological  investigation  afforded  by 
the  large  collection  of  Federal  prisoners  in  Georgia  is  of 
great  extent  and  importance,  and  it  is  believed  that  re 
sults  of  value  to  the  profession  may  be  obtained  by  a 
careful  investigation  of  the  effects  of  disease  upon  the 
large  body  of  men  subjected  to  a  decided  change  of  cli 
mate  and  the  circumstances  peculiar  to  prison  life"  (Rec 
ord,  pp.  4321:  and  4325).  From  this  it  will  be  seen  there 
was  authority  from  a  high  source  for  his  proceedings, 
certifying  a  knowledge  of  the  condition  of  things  at  An- 


192  ANDERSONVILLE. 

\ 

dersonville,  in  the  surgeon  general's  office,  if  it  does  not 
especially  commend  the  humanity  of  that  office. 

After  making  some  remarks  in  regard  to  the  char 
acter  of  the  soil,  the  internal  structure  of  the  hills,  and 
so  forth,  Dr.  Jones  proceeds  to  give  a  table  illustrating 
the  mean  strength  of  prisoners  confined  in  the  stockade 
from  its  organization,  February  24, 1864,  to  September, 
1864. 

This  computation,  I  may  remark,  is  only  approximate 
ly  accurate,  and  is  arrived  at  by  adding  together  the 
number  of  prisoners  at  the  first,  middle,  and  the  last  of 
each  month,  and  dividing  the  result  by  three.  His  table, 
however,  shows  the  following  as  the  mean  result : 


March 7,500 

April 10,000 

May 15,000 


June 22,291 

July 29,030 

August 32,899 


He  says:  "  Within  the  circumscribed  area  of  the  stock 
ade  the  Federal  prisoners  were  compelled  to  perform  all 
the  offices  of  life,  cooking,  washing,  urinating,  defecation, 

exercise,  and  sleeping The  Federal  prisoners 

were  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  Confederate  States 
east  of  the  Mississippi,  and  crowded  in  the  confined  space, 
until,  in  the  month  of  June,  the  average  number  of 
square  feet  of  ground  to  each  prisoner  was  only  33.2,  or 
less  than  four  square  yards"  (Record,  p.  4331). 

"  These  figures,"  he  says,  "  represent  the  condition  of 
the  stockade  in  a  better  light  even  than  it  really  was,  for 
a  considerable  breadth  of  land  along  the  stream. flowing 
from  west  to  east,  between  the  hills,  was  low  and  boggy, 
and  was  covered  with  the  excrement  of  the  men,  and 
thus  rendered  wholly  uninhabitable,  and,  in  fact,  useless 


ANDERSONVILLE.  193 

for  every  purpose  except  that  of  defecation"  (Record, 
pp.  4331  and  4332). 

It  will  be  remembered  that  besides  this  swamp  must 
be  excluded  the  space  between  the  dead  line  and  the 
stockade,  which,  together  with  the  bog,  must  be  taken 
from  the  whole  area.  Colonel  Chandler,  in  his  official 
report,  makes  a  computation  showing  that  the  actual 
space  allowed  to  each  prisoner  was  only  six  square  feet, 
there  being  scarcely  room  for  the  prisoners  all  to  lie 
down  at  the  same  time.  Dr.  Jones's  report  continues : 

"  With  their  characteristic  industry  and  ingenuity,  the 
Federals  constructed  for  themselves  small  huts  and  caves, 
and  attempted  to  shield  themselves  from  the  rain,  and 
sun,  and  night-damps,  and  dew.  But  few  tents  were  dis 
tributed  to  the  prisoners,  and  those  were  in  most  cases 
torn  and  rotten.  In  the  location  and  arrangement  of 
these  tents  and  huts  no  order  appears  to  have  been  fol 
lowed  ;  in  fact,  regular  streets  appeared  to  be  out  of  the 
question  in  so  crowded  an  area,  especially,  too,  as  large 
bodies  of  prisoners  were  from  time  to  time  added  sud 
denly,  without  any  previous  preparation The  po 
lice  and  internal  economy  of  the  prison  was  left  almost 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  prisoners  themselves,  the  du 
ties  of  the  Confederate  soldiers  acting  as  guards  being 
limited  to  the  occupation  of  the  boxes  or  look-outs  ar 
ranged  around  the  stockade  at  regular  intervals,  and  to 
the  manning  of  the  batteries  at  the  angles  of  the  prison" 
(Record,  pp.  4333  and  4334). 

Again:  "Even  judicial  matters  pertaining  to  them 
selves,  as  the  detection  and  punishment  of  such  crimes 
as  theft  and  murder,  appear  to  have  been  in  a  great 

I 


194  ANDEKSONVILLE. 

measure  abandoned  to  the  prisoners.  A  striking  in 
stance  of  this  occurred  in  the  month  of  July,  when  the 
Federal  prisoners  within  the  stockade  tried,  condemned, 
and  hanged  six  of  their  own  number  who  had  been  con 
victed  of  cheating,  and  of  robbing  and  murdering  their 
fellow -prisoners.  They  were  all  hung  upon  the  same 
day,  and  thousands  of  prisoners  gathered  around  to  wit 
ness  the  execution.  The  Confederate  authorities  are  said 
not  to  have  interfered  with  these  proceedings.  In  this 
collection  of  men  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  every 
phase  of  human  character  was  represented.  The  stron 
ger  preyed  upon  the  weaker,  and  even  the  sick,  who  were 
unable  to  defend  themselves,  were  robbed  of  their  scanty 
supplies  of  food  and  clothing.  Dark  stories  were  afloat 
of  men,  both  sick  and  well,  who  were  murdered  at  night, 
strangled  to  death  by  their  comrades  for  scant  supplies 
of  money  and  clothing.  I  heard  a  sick  and  wounded 
Federal  prisoner  accuse  his  nurse  —  a  fellow-prisoner  of 
the  United  States  Army  —  of  having  stealthily,  during 
his  sleep,  inoculated  his  wounded  arm  with  gangrene, 
that  he  might  destroy  his  life,  and  fall  heir  to  his  cloth 
ing 

"The  large  number  of  men  confined  within  the  stock 
ade  soon,  under  a  defective  system  of  police  and  with 
imperfect  arrangements,  covered  the  surface  of  the  low 
grounds  with  excrement.  The  sinks  over  the  lower 
portions  of  the  stream  were  imperfect  in  their  plan  and 
structure,  and  the  excrement  was  in  large  measure  de 
posited  so  near  the  borders  of  the  stream  as  not  to  be 
washed  away,  or  else  accumulated  upon  the  low  boggy 
ground.  The  volume  of  water  was  not  sufficient  to  wash 


ANDERSONVILLE.  195 

away  the  fasces,  and  they  accumulated  in  such  quanti 
ties  in  the  lower  portion  of  the  stream  as  to  form  a  mass 
of  liquid  excrement. 

"  Heavy  rains  caused  the  waters  of  the  stream  to  rise, 
and,  as  the  arrangements  for  the  passage  of  the  increased 
amounts  of  water  out  of  the  stockade  were  insufficient, 
the  liquid  fosces  overflowed  the  low  grounds,  and  covered 
them  several  inches  after  the  subsidence  of  the  waters. 

"The  action  of  the  sun  upon  this  putrefying  mass  of 
excrement,  and  fragments  of  bread,  and  meat,  and  bones, 
excited  most  rapid  fermentation,  and  developed  a  horri 
ble  stench.  Improvements  were  projected  for  the  re 
moval  of  the  filth  and  for  the  prevention  of  its  accumu 
lation,  but  they  were  only  partially  and  imperfectly  car 
ried  out. 

"As  the  forces  of  the  prisoners  were  reduced  by  con 
finement,  want  of  exercise,  improper  diet,  and  by  scurvy, 
diarrhoea,  and  dysentery,  they  were  unable  to  evacuate 
their  bowels  within  the  stream  or  along  its  banks,  and 
the  excrement  was  deposited  at  the  very  doors  of  their 
tents. 

"  The  vast  majority  appeared  to  lose  all  repulsion  to 
filth,  and  both  sick  and  well  disregarded  all  the  laws  of 
hygiene  and  personal  cleanliness. 

"  The  accommodations  of  the  sick  were  imperfect 
and  insufficient"  (Eecord,  pages  4333,  4334,  4335,  4336). 
Again  he  says:  "Each  day  the  dead  from  the  stockade 
were  carried  out  by  their  fellow-prisoners,  and  deposited 
upon  the  ground  under  a  bush  arbor,  just  outside  of  the 
southwestern  gate.  From  thence  they  were  carried  in 
carts  to  the  burying-ground,  one  quarter  of  a  mile  north- 


196  ANDEKSONVILLE. 

west  of  the  prison.  The  dead  were  buried  without  cof 
fins,  side  by  side,  in  trenches  four  feet  deep. 

"  The  low  grounds  bordering  the  stream  were  covered 
with  human  excrement  and  filth  of  all  kinds,  which  in 
many  cases  appeared  to  be  alive  with  working  maggots. 

"An  indescribable  sickening  stench  arose  from  the 
fermenting  mass  of  human  dung  and  filth"  (Record,  p. 
4339). 

And  again :  "  There  were  nearly  five  thousand  seri 
ously-ill  Federals  in  the  stockade  and  Confederate  States 
Military  Prison  Hospital,  and  the  deaths  exceeded  one 
hundred  per  day ;  and  large  numbers  of  the  prisoners, 
who  were  walking  about,  and  who  had  not  been  entered 
upon  the  sick  report,  were  suffering  from  severe  and 
incurable  diarrhoea,  dysentery,  and  scurvy I  vis 
ited  two  thousand  sick  within  the  stockade,  lying  under 
some  long  sheds  which  they  had  built  at  the  northern 
portion  for  themselves.  At  this  time  only  one  medical 
officer  was  in  attendance,  whereas  at  least  twenty  medi 
cal  officers  should  have  been  employed"  (Record,  pp. 
4340  and  4341). 

By  comparing  two  very  interesting  tables  of  statistics 
given  in  this  connection  by  Dr.  Jones,  it  will  be  observed 
that,  although  the  number  of  sick  in  the  stockade  was 
the  same  as  that  in  the  hospital,  while  the  number  of  sur 
geons  in  attendance  in  the  stockade  was  greatly  below 
that  in  the  hospital,  the  deaths  occurring  were  about  the 
same  in  each;  or,  in  other  words,  the  prisoners  died  as 
rapidly  with  treatment  as  without  it.  This  is  confirmed 
by  the  opinions  of  several  surgeons,  among  them  Dr. 
Roy,  Flewellen,  Head,  Rice,  and  others,  who  have  stated 


ANDERSONVILLE.  197 

that  medicines  were  of  little  use,  and  that  more  could 
have  been  done  by  dieting. 

Again  Dr.  Jones  says:  " Scurvy,  diarrhoea,  dysentery, 
and  hospital  gangrene  were  the  prevailing  diseases.  I 
was  surprised  to  find  but  few  cases  of  malarial  fever,  and 
no  well-marked  cases  of  typhus  or  typhoid  fever.  The 
absence  of  the  different  forms  of  malarial  fever  may  be 
accounted  for  in  the  supposition  that  the  artificial  atmos 
phere  of  the  stockade,  crowded  densely  with  human  be 
ings  and  loaded  with  animal  exhalations,  was  unfavora 
ble  to  the  existence  and  action  of  the  malarial  poison. 
The  absence  of  typhoid  and  typhus  fevers  among  all  the 
causes  which  are  supposed  to  generate  these  diseases  ap 
peared  to  be  due  to  the  fact  that  the  great  majority  of 
these  prisoners  had  been  in  captivity  in  Virginia,  at  Belle 
Island,  and  in  other  parts  of  the  Confederacy,  for  months, 
and  even  as  long  as  two  years,  and  during  this  time  they 
had  been  subjected  to  the  same  bad  influences,  and  those 
who  had  not  had  these  fevers  before  either  had  them 
during  their  confinement  in  Confederate  prisons,  or  else 
their  systems,  from  long  exposure,  were  proof  against 
their  action"  (Record,  p.  4343). 

A  most  striking  fact  is  here  presented,  which  illus 
trates,  perhaps,  in  as  strong  a  light  as  is  possible,  the  ter 
rible  condition  of  our  prisoners.  The  report  shows  that, 
in  a  region  of  country  favorable  to  malarial  fevers,  per 
sons  lying  in  the  open  air,  on  the  border  of  a  swamp, 
without  shelter,  drinking  unwholesome  water — in  short, 
with  every  surrounding  conducive  to  malaria,  still  the 
poison  of  that  atmosphere,  made  so  by  peculiar  circum 
stances,  overcame  all  those  influences,  and  rendered  the 


198  ANDERSONVILLE. 

place  comparatively  free  from  fevers  of  a  malarial  na 
ture. 

After  describing  at  some  length  the  effects  of  scurvy 
and  hospital  gangrene,  the  report  proceeds:  "The  long 
use  of  salt  meat,  oftentimes  imperfectly  cured,  as  well  as 
the  almost  total  deprivation  of  vegetables  and  fruit,  ap 
peared  to  be  the  chief  causes  of  the  scurvy. 

"I  carefully  examined  the  bakery  and  the  bread  fur 
nished  the  prisoners,  and  found  that  they  were  supplied 
almost  entirely  with  corn -bread  from  which  the  husk 
had  not  been  separated.  This  husk  acted  as  an  irritant 
to  the  alimentary  canal,  without  adding  any  nutriment 
to  the  bread"  (Record,  p.  4346). 

After  speaking  of  the  sheds  used  for  the  sick  in  the 
stockade,  which  were  open  on  all  sides,  he  says:  "The 
sick  lay  upon  the  bare  boards,  or  upon  such  ragged 
blankets  as  they  possessed,  without,  as  far  as  I  observed, 
any  bedding  or  even  straw.  Pits  for  the  reception  of 
fasces  were  dug  within  a  few  feet  of  the  lower  floor,  and 
they  were  almost  never  unoccupied  by  those  suffering 
with  diarrhoea.  The  haggard,  distressed  countenances  of 
these  miserable,  complaining,  dejected  living  skeletons, 
crying  for  medical  aid  and  food,  ....  and  the  ghastly 
corpses,  with  their  glazed  eyeballs  staring  up  into  va 
cant  space,  with  the  flies  swarming  down  their  open  and 
grinning  mouths  and  over  their  ragged  clothes,  infested 
with  numerous  lice,  as  they  lay  among  the  sick  and  dy 
ing,  formed  a  picture  of  helpless,  hopeless  misery  which 
it  would  be  impossible  to  portray  by  words  or  by  the 
brush"  (Record,  p.  4348). 

It  would  hardly  seem  necessary,  if  indeed  it  were  pos- 


AXDERSONVILLE.  199 

sible,  to  add  coloring  to  the  picture  here  drawn.  I  can 
not  refrain,  however,  from  noticing  farther  the  condition 
of  these  prisoners,  as  we  learn  it  from  the  same  class  of 
testimony.  Dr.  Amos  Thornburg,  a  rebel  surgeon  on 
duty  at  Andersonville  from  the  14th  of  April  until  the 
prison  was  finally  broken  up,  fully  confirms  every  thing- 
said  by  Dr.  Jones.  After  speaking  of  the  terrible  mor 
tality  among  the  prisoners,  and  in  reply  to  the  question, 
"To  what  do  you  attribute  it?"  he  says,  "I  attribute  it 
to  the  want  of  proper  diet ;  the  crowding  together  of  too 
many  men  in  the  prison  and  in  the  hospital;  the  lack  of 
shelter  and  fuel,  and  consequent  exposure.  While  I  pre 
scribed  at  the  stockade,  after  the  hospital  was  moved  out 
side,  the  number  of  sick  who  could  not  be  admitted  into 
the  hospital  became  so  great  that  we  were  compelled  to 
practice  by  formulas  for  different  diseases,  numbering  so 
that,  instead  of  a  prescription,  a  patient  was  told  to  use 
Kb.  — "  (Record,  p.  2321). 

Manifestly  improper  as  this  method  of  treating  diseases 
must  appear  to  every  one,  it  did  not  escape  the  criticism 
of  the  more  conscientious  even  of  those  at  Andersonville. 
Dr.  Head,  persisting  in  giving  a  prescription  in  each  case, 
as  he  thought  his  duty  as  a  conscientious  physician  re 
quired,  and  not  willing  to  accept  a  number  prepared  for 
all  stages  of  any  one  disease,  was  told,  on  asking  why  he 
could  not  be  permitted  to  pursue  the  safe  course,  "  That 
he  was  not  to  practice  in  that  way ;  that  he  had  to  prac 
tice  according  to  the  formulas  and  numbers  that  they 
had"  (Record,  p.  2500). 

In  reply  to  the  question,  ""Why  did  you  object  to  it?" 
he  says,  "Because  I  could  not  prescribe  properly  for  my 


200  ANDERSONVILLE. 

patients,  I  looked  upon  it  as  utter  quackery ;  any  body, 
whether  he  had  ever  read  medicine  or  not,  could  prac 
tice  according  to  the  formulas.  It  was  often  doubtful 
whether  a  prescription  would  suit  a  case  in  its  present 
condition.  The  doctors,  however,  had  to  take  that  or 
nothing." 

Dr.  GK  L.  B.  Kice,  another  surgeon  on  duty  there,  speak 
ing  on  the  same  point,  says:  "I  commenced  prescribing 
as  I  had  been  in  the  habit  of  doing  at  home,  but  was  in 
formed  that  I  would  not  be  allowed  to  do  that.  I  was 
handed  a  lot  of  formulas  and  numbers  from  one  up  to  a 
certain  point,  and  we  had  to  use  those.  My  opinion  was 
that  we  could  do  very  little  good  with  that  kind  of  pre 
scription.  It  was  very  unsafe  practice.  I  knew  noth 
ing  about  the  ingredients  in  them,  and  had  no  means  of 
knowing  it ;  I  made  complaints,  but  the  chief  surgeon 
would  not  allow  a  change"  (Kecord,  p.  3604). 

The  testimony  of  Dr.  Thornburg,  and  other  surgeons 
who  prescribed  at  the  stockade,  shows  that  after  the  hos 
pital  was  moved  outside,  patients  were  not  treated  in  the 
stockade  at  all,  but  only  those  who  were  able  to  crowd 
their  way  through  that  living  mass  to  the  south  gate,  or 
could  induce  their  companions  to  carry  them  there,  or, 
as  happened  in  rare  instances,  could  have  medicines  sent 
in  to  them,  received  any  medical  attendance  whatever. 
Hundreds  and  thousands,  as  appears  from  the  concur 
rent  testimony  of  all  the  witnesses,  sickened,  languished, 
and  died  in  that  terrible  place,  without  any  medical  at 
tendance  whatever.  Horrible  as  this  may  appear,  the 
hospital  register  bears  indubitable  proof  of  its  truth. 

Let  me,  in  this  connection,  refer  to  an  exhibit  show- 


ANDERSONVILLE.  201 

ing  certain  computation  made  from  that  register.  The 
phrase  "  died  in  quarters"  in  the  column  of  remarks,  Dr. 
Thornburg  says,  describes  those  cases  just  alluded  to, 
and  they  are  shown  to  have  amounted  to  the  frightful 
number  of  3727. 

These  dead,  as  we  learn  from  Dr.  Thornburg's  testi 
mony,  after  being  brought  out,  were  examined,  and,  as 
far  as  possible,  the  diseases  from  which  they  died  were 
entered  on  the  hospital  register  for  a  purpose  so  diaboli 
cal  that  one  shudders  at  the  thought,  and  which  I  shall 
hereafter  notice.  Others,  the  causes  of  whose  deaths 
could  not  even  be  guessed  at,  or,  as  Dr.  Jones  describes 
it,  morbi  varii,  were  marked  on  the  register  "  unknown." 
Prisoners  would  often  die  on  their  way  to  the  sick-gate, 
or  while  waiting  their  turns  at  the  gate,  or  on  the  way 
from  the  gate  to  the  hospital ;  and  although  in  some  cases 
such  men  might  have  been  prescribed  for,  they  could 
not  afterward  be  identified,  but  had  to  be  carried  to  the 
grave-yard  and  buried  among  the  nameless.  To  prevent, 
if  possible,  this  utter  annihilation  of  memory,  name,  and 
fame,  Dr.  Thornburg  instituted  a  system  of  placards,  by 
which  he  sought  to  prevent,  if  possible,  this  reckless  wip 
ing  out  of  all  traces  of  the  dead,  and  which  prevented  its 
occurrence,  he  thinks,  after  June,  1864 ;  but  there  had  al 
ready  gone  to  their  last  home,  as  Captain  Moore,  who  re- 
interred  the  dead  at  Andersonville,  tells  us,  four  hundred 
and  fifty-one  of  our  brave  soldiers.  Who  they  are  the 
Andersonville  register  tells  not,  but  there  is  a  register 
where  they  are  all  recorded  in  letters  of  light,  and  one 
by  one  will  these  unknown  rise  in  judgment  against 
those  who  are  responsible  for  their  deaths. 

12 


202  ANDERSONVILLE. 

Another  frightful  feature  brought  out  by  the  testimo 
ny  of  Dr.  Thornburg  and  others,  and  confirmed  by  near 
ly  every  soldier  who  testified  before  this  court,  is  this, 
that  only  the  worst  cases  were  allowed  to  enter  the  hos 
pital;  and  so  closely  was  the  line  drawn  discriminating 
against  these  supplicants,  that  often  prisoners  who  had 
been  refused  admission  into  the  hospital  died  on  their 
way  back  to  their  quarters.  I  will  not  stop  now,  as  I 
am  not  inquiring  into  the  responsibility  of  parties,  to  no 
tice  the  ineffable  cruelty  of  compelling  the  sick  to  remain 
in  the  stockade  until  they  were  in  a  dying  condition,  as 
some  of  the  witnesses  say,  before  they  were  eligible  to  a 
space  as  large  as  their  own  persons  in  what  was  falsely 
termed  a  hospital. 

Nor  did  the  rigors  and  sufferings  of  this  prison  cease 
till  its  very  close.  Their  shelter  continued  the  same — 
no  more ;  while  the  treatment  in  and  out  of  the  stockade 
was  not  perceptibly  better.  From  a  temperature  rang 
ing  during  the  summer  up  to  near  150°  Fahrenheit  in 
the  sun,  as  Dr.  Thornburg  tells  you,  during  which  there 
were  many  cases  of  sun-stroke,  it  fell  in  the  winter  to  a 
temperature  much  below  the  freezing-point,  nothing  be 
ing  left  these  miserable  creatures  with  which  to  resist  the 
inclemency  of  the  weather  but  diseased  and  emaciated 
bodies,  and  ragged,  worn-out  clothing.  Dr.  Thornburg 
says  that  during  the  winter  there  was  weather  sufficient 
ly  severe  to  have  frozen  to  death  men  with  the  scanty 
supplies  these  prisoners  had,  and  in  their  emaciated  con 
dition  ;  and  Dr.Eice,  after  stating  that  the  prisoners  were 
exposed  more  or  less  during  the  whole  winter,  says,  "I 
knew  a  great  many  to  die  there  who  I  believed  died  from 


ANDERSONVILLE.  203 

hunger  and  starvation,  and  from  cold  and  exposure"  (Rec- 
ord,  p.  2606).  This  is  more  than  confirmed  also  by  Dr. 
Bates  (Record,  p.  164:).  And  to  the  eternal  infamy  of  the 
man  who  registered  it,  and  of  the  heartless  wretches  who 
caused  it,  let  it  be  spread  before  the  world  that  on  the 
hospital  register  there  appears  this  entry:  "T.  Gerrity, 
106th  Pennsylvania,  frozen  to  death ;  admitted  January 
3d;  died  January  3d  —  died  in  the  stockade;"  showing 
that  he  not  only  froze  to  death  in  the  stockade  without 
medical  treatment  and  without  shelter,  but  that  he  was 
admitted  into  the  hospital  after  death  for  a  purpose  which 
I  shall  hereafter  show. 

Wishing  only  to  get  at  the  truth  of  these  things,  and 
desirous  particularly  that  the  parties  responsible  shall  be 
judged,  as  far  as  possible,  out  of  their  own  mouths,  I 
must  trespass  upon  the  patience  of  the  court  for  a  mo 
ment  to  notice  the  evidence  of  Dr.  G.  G.  Roy,  a  rebel  sur 
geon  who  was  on  duty  from  the  1st  of  September  until 
the  close  of  the  prison.  In  response  to  the  question, 
"  What  was  the  condition  of  the  men  sent  to  the  hospi 
tal  from  the  stockade  ?  Describe  their  diseases  and  ap 
pearance,"  he  says,  "  They  presented  the  most  horrible 
spectacle  of  humanity  that  I  ever  saw  in  my  life :  a  good 
many  were  suffering  from  scurvy  and  other  diseases;  a 
good  many  were  naked ;  a  large  majority  barefooted ;  a 
good  many  without  hats ;  their  condition  generally  was 
almost  indescribable."  And  he  goes  on  to  say,  "I  at 
tribute  this  condition  to  long  confinement,  want  of  the 
necessaries  and  comforts  of  life,  and  all  those  causes  that 
are  calculated  to  produce  that  condition  of  the  system 
where  there  is  just  vitality  enough  to  permit  one  to  live. 


204  ANDERSONVILLE. 

The  prisoners  were  too  densely  crowded;  there  was  no 
shelter,  except  such  as  they  constructed  themselves,  which 
was  very  insufficient ;  a  good  many  were  in  holes  in  the 
earth,  with  their  blankets  thrown  over  them;  a  good 
many  had  a  blanket  or  oil-cloth  drawn  over  poles ;  some 
were  in  tents  constructed  by  their  own  ingenuity,  and 
with  just  such,  accommodations  as  their  own  ingenuity 
permitted  them  to  contrive ;  there  were,  you  may  say,  no 
accommodations  made  for  them  in  the  stockade"  (Rec 
ord,  pp.  485  and  486). 

Speaking  of  the  east  side  of  the  stockade,  along  the 
stream,  he  says :  "It  is  composed  of  marsh,  and  was 
blocked  with  trees,  which  had  been  cut  down,  acting  as 
an  obstruction  to  all  deleterious  animal  and  vegetable 
matter  that  passed  after  heavy  weather  through  this 
stream ;  it  accumulated  and  became  very  noxious,  and 
was  a  very  fruitful  source  of  malaria." 

He  then  speaks  of  the  large  quantities  of  insects  and 
vermin  which  resulted  from  a  decay  of  animal  or  vege 
table  matter,  and  to  such  an  extent  was  this  place  a 
breeder  of  insects,  that  he  says  musquitoes — rarely  heard 
of  in  that  vicinity — so  filled  the  air  "  that  it  was  danger 
ous  for  a  man  to  open  his  mouth  after  sundown."  He 
speaks  also  of  the  multitude  of  fleas  there,  and  says  "the 
fleas  were  as  bad  as  musquitoes,  and  several  weeks  after 
the  evacuation  of  the  stockade  they  emigrated,  and  came 
up  to  the  private  houses  in  the  vicinity,  so  that  the  occu 
pants  had  to  leave  on  account  of  them." 

When  we  remember  the  facts  brought  out  in  such 
bold  relief  by  the  elaborate  report  of  Dr.  Jones  as  to  the 
effect  of  slight  abrasions  of  the  skin  on  men  under  the  pe- 


ANDERSONVILLE.  205 

culiar  condition  of  body  that  most  of  these  prisoners  la 
bored  under,  it  would  seem  to  have  been  almost  useless 
for  them  to  have  attempted  to  resist  the  destroyer.  Far 
ther  along  in  his  testimony  Dr.  Koy  says,  "  This  marshy 
place  I  spoke  of  was  just  in  thej:ear  of  the  hospital,  and 
the  winds,  of  course,  blew  the  odors  from  there  across 
the  hospital,  and  it  was  not  until  late  in  the  winter,  if  at 
all,  that  any  attempt  was  made  to  drain  it."  Still  pur 
suing  our  inquiries  in  this  direction,  I  desire  to  quote 
from  a  report  made  by  Dr.  Gr.  S.  Hopkins  and  Surgeon  II. 
E.  Watkins,  addressed  to  General  Winder,  and  which  was 
made  pursuant  to  his  suggestion,  as  embracing  in  a  con 
cise  form  many  of  the  causes  of  the  disease  and  mortality 
at  Anderson ville. 

CAUSES  OF  DISEASE  AND  MOETALITY. 

"  1st.  The  large  number  of  prisoners  crowded  together. 

"2d.  The  entire  absence  of  all  vegetables  as  diet,  so 
necessary  as  a  preventive  of  scurvy. 

"  3d.  The  want  of  barracks  to  shelter  the  prisoners 
from  sun  and  rain. 

"4th.  The  inadequate  supply  of  wood  and  good  water. 

"  5th.  Badly-cooked  food. 

"  6th.  The  filthy  condition  of  the  prisoners  and  prison 
generally. 

"  7th.  The  morbific  emanations  from  the  branch  or 
ravine  passing  through  the  prison,  the  condition  of  which 
can  not  be  better  explained  than  by  naming  it  a  morass 
of  human  excrement  and  mud." 


206  ANDERSONVILLE. 

PREVENTIVE  MEASURES. 

"  1st.  The  removal  immediately  from  the  prison  of  not 
less  than  15,000  prisoners. 

"  2d.  Detail  on  parole  a  sufficient  number  of  prisoners 
to  cultivate  the  necessary  supply  of  vegetables ;  and,  un 
til  this  can  be  carried  into  practical  operation,-  the  ap 
pointment  of  agents  along  the  different  lines  of  railroad 
to  purchase  and  forward  a  supply. 

"3d.  The  immediate  erection  of  barracks  to  shelter  the 
prisoners. 

"4th.  To  furnish,  the  necessary  quantity  of  wood,  and 
have  wells  dug  to  supply  the  deficiency  of  water. 

"5th.  Divide  the  prisoners  into  squads;  place  each 
squad  under  the  charge  of  a  sergeant ;  furnish  the  nec 
essary  quantity  of  soap,  and  hold  these  sergeants  respon 
sible  for  the  personal  cleanliness  of  his  squad;  furnish 
the  prisoners  with  clothing  at  the  expense  of  the  Confed 
erate,  and,  if  that  government  be  unable  to  do  so,  candid 
ly  admit  our  inability,  and  call  upon  the  Federal  govern 
ment  to  furnish  them. 

"  6th.  By  a  daily  inspection  of  bake-house  and  baking. 

"  7th.  Cover  over  with  sand  from  the  hill-sides  the  en 
tire  morass,  not  less  than  six  inches  deep;  board  the 
stream  or  water-course,  and  confine,  the  men  to  the  use 
of  the  sinks,  and  make  the  penalty  for  the  disobedience 
of  such  orders  severe." 

I  will  not  stop  now  to  notice  with  what  flippancy  and 
recklessness  the  practical  suggestions  made  by  these  sur 
geons  were  put  aside  and  totally  disregarded  both  by 
General  Winder  and  Chief  Surgeon  White. 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  207 

I  can  hardly  think  that  farther  proof,  inasmuch  as  the 
proof  is  already  made  cumulative  from  this  class  of  wit 
nesses,  is  needed.  There  have  been  examined,  with  re 
gard  to  the  condition  of  the  stockade  and  hospital,  over 
seventy  witnesses,  and  an  examination  of  their  testimony 
will,  as  I  before  stated,  show  a  complete  and  perfect  con 
currence. 


208  ANDERSONVILLE. 


CHAPTER  XYI. 

Colonel  Chandler's  Report. — Colonel  Gibbs's  Testimouy. — Evidence  of 
Rebel  Officers  and  Soldiers. — Condition  of  the  Hospital. 

IN  July  there  seems  to  have  been  some  correspondence 
between  the  rebel  adjutant  general  and  General  Winder, 
who  was  then  on  duty  at  Andersonville.  From  a  letter 
written  by  General  Winder  to  Adjutant  General  Cooper, 
dated  July  21st  (see  Exhibit  No.  17),  I  extract  the  follow 
ing:  u  You  speak  in  your  indorsement  of  placing  the 
prisoners  properly.  I  do  not  comprehend  what  is  in 
tended  by  it.  I  know  of  but  one  way  to  place  them,  and 
that  is  to  put  them  in  the  stockade,  where  they  have  be 
tween  four  and  five  square  yards  to  the  man.  This  in 
cludes  streets,  and  two  acres  of  ground  about  the  stream." 

It  will  be  observed  that  General  Winder  was  very 
careful  not  to  mention  the  strip  twenty  feet  wide  cut  off 
by  the  "  dead  line."  At  the  close  of  this  month,  from 
what  motive  we  can  only  conjecture,  Colonel  D.  T.  Chand 
ler,  of  the  Eebel  War  Department,  was  sent  to  inspect 
the  prison  at  Andersonville,  and  on  the  5th  of  August, 
1864,  he  made  a  full  report.  This  report  is  no  stronger 
than  others  from  which  we  have  already  quoted,  but,  as 
it  is  destined  to  figure  extensively  in  this  case  at  other 
points  in  the  argument,  I  beg  to  make  a  few  extracts 
from  it.  He  says : 

"  A  small  stream  passes  from  west  to  east  through  the 


ANDERSONVILLE.  209 

inclosure,  furnishing  the  only  water  for  washing  accessi 
ble  to  the  prisoners.  Some  regiments  of  the  guard,  the 
bakery,  and  the  cook-house,  being  placed  on  rising 
ground  bordering  the  stream  before  it  enters  the  prison, 
renders  the  water  nearly  unfit  for  use  before  it  reaches 

the  prisoners From  thirty  to  fifty  yards  on  each 

side  of  the  stream  the  ground  is  a  muddy  marsh,  totally 
unfit  for  occupation ;  being  constantly  used  as  a  sink  since 
the  prison  was  first  established,  it  is  now  in  a  shocking 
condition,  and  can  not  fail  to  breed  pestilence.  No  shel 
ter  whatever,  nor  materials  for  constructing  any,  have 
been  provided  by  the  prison  authorities,  and  the  ground 
being  entirely  bare  of  trees,  none  is  within  the  reach  of 
the  prisoners." 

Again :  "  The  whole  number  of  prisoners  is  divided 
into  messes  of  two  hundred  and  seventy,  and  subdivi 
sions  of  ninety  men,  each  under  a  sergeant  of  their  own 
number ;  and  but  one  Confederate  States  officer,  Captain 
Wirz,  is  assigned  to  the  supervision  and  control  of  the 
whole.  In  consequence  of  these  facts,  and  the  absence 
of  all  regularity  in  the  prison  grounds,  and  there  being 
no  barracks  or  tents,  there  are  and  can  be  no  regulations 
established  for  the  police,  consideration  for  the  health, 
comfort,  and  sanitary  condition  of  those  within  the  in 
closure,  and  none  are  practicable  under  existing  circum 
stances There  is  no  medical  attendance  furnished 

within  the  stockade." 

He  says  farther:  "Many — twenty  yesterday — are  cart 
ed  out  daily  who  have  died  from  unknown  causes,  and 
whom  the  medical  officers  have  never  seen.  The  dead 
are  hauled  out  daily  by  wagon-loads,  and  buried  without 


210  ANDERSONVILLE. 

coffins,  their  hands  in  many  instances  being  first  mu 
tilated  with  an  axe  in  removal  of  any  finger-ring  they 
may  have.  The  sanitary  condition  of  the  prisoners  is 
as  wretched  as  can  be,  the  principal  causes  of  mortality 
being  scurvy  and  chronic  diarrhoea,  the  percentage  of 
the  former  being  disproportionately  large  among  those 
brought  from  Belle  Island.  Nothing  seems  to  have  been 
done,  and  but  little,  if  any  effort  made  to  arrest  it  by 
procuring  proper  food Kaw  rations  have  been  is 
sued  to  a  very  large  proportion  who  are  entirely  unpro 
vided  with  proper  utensils,  and  furnished  with  so  limited 
a  supply  of  fuel  that  they  are  compelled  to  dig  with  their 
hands  in  the  filthy  marsh  before  mentioned  for  roots,  etc." 

Surgeon  Isaiah  H.  White,  chief  surgeon  at  the  prison, 
in  a  report  to  Colonel  Chandler,  which  was  made  an  in- 
closure  of  his  report  to  Kichmond,  says : 

"  The  lack  of  barrack  accommodations  exposes  the 
men  to  the  heat  of  the  sun  by  day  and  the  dews  by 

night,  and  is  a  prolific  source  of  disease The 

point  of  exit  of  the  stream  through  the  wall  of  the  stock 
ade  is  not  sufficiently  bold  as  to  permit  the  free  passage 
of  ordure  when  the  stream  is  swollen  by  rains.  The 
lower  portion  of  this  bottom-land  is  overflowed  by  a 
solution  of  excrement,  which  subsiding,  and  the  surface 
exposed  to  the  sun,  produce  a  horrible  stench." 

EVIDENCE  OF  EEBEL  OFFICERS  AND  SOLDIERS. 

I  turn  now  to  the  evidence  of  rebel  officers  and  sol 
diers  on  duty  at  Andersonville. 

Colonel  Alexander  W.  Persons,  of  the  rebel  army,  the 
first  commandant  of  the  post,  who  remained  there  until 


ANDERSONVILLE.  211 

the  latter  part  of  May,  says  that  after  he  was  relieved  he 
returned  there  again  and  drew  a  bill  for  an  injunction, 
and  when  called  upon  to  explain  for  what  reason,  re 
plied,  "  To  abate  a  nuisance :  the  grave-yard  made  it  a 
nuisance ;  the  prison  generally  was  a  nuisance  from  the 
intolerable  stench,  the  effluvia,  the  malaria  that  it  gave 
up,  and  things  of  that  sort." 

The  view  here  presented  must  strike  the  court  as 
graphic  indeed,  when,  without  the  question  of  humanity 
or  inhumanity  involved,  persons  living  in  the  vicinity  of 
Andersonville  could  gravely  begin  a  legal  proceeding  to 
abate  the  prison  as  a  nuisance  on  the  ground  mainly  that 
the  effluvia  arising  from  it  was  intolerable ! 

Colonel  George  C.  Gibbs,  who  afterward  commanded 
the  post,  gives  evidence  on  this  point  no  less  important. 
He  was  assigned  to  duty  in  October,  1864,  and,  although 
the  number  at  that  time  was  greatly  diminished,  he 
speaks  of  the  prisoners  being  badly  off  for  clothing  and 
shelter,  and  in  other  respects  destitute.  Prior  to  this 
time — some  time  in  July — he  had  visited  the  stockade, 
and  he  uses  this  language  in  regard  to  its  appearance  then: 

"I  rode  around  it  on  three  sides,  I  think,  and  could  see 
into  it  from  the  batteries  that  commanded  it.  I  never 
saw  so  many  men  together  in  the  same  space  before ;  it 
had  more  the  appearance  of  an  ant-hill  than  any  thing 
else  I  can  compare  it  to"  (Eecord,  p.  84). 

Nazareth  Allen,  a  rebel  soldier  on  duty  at  Ander 
sonville  during  the  summer  of  1864,  fully  corroborates 
these  opinions ;  and  farther,  in  relation  to  the  location  of 
troops  above  the  stockade,  and  its  effects  upon  the  pris 
oners,  says : 


212  ANDEKSONVILLE. 

"  The  cook-house  was  above  the  stockade,  and  a  good 
deal  of  washing  was  done  up  the  branch,  consequently  a 
great  deal  of  filth  went  down.  Some  of  the  troops  were 
encamped  on  the  stream  above,  on  the  side  of  the  hill, 
and  the  rain  would  wash  the  filth  of  the  camps  and  sinks 
into  the  stream,  which  would  carry  it  to  the  stockade.  I 
have  seen  the  prisoners  using  it  when  it  was  in  this  filthy 

condition The  stench  was  very  bad.  I  have 

smelt  it  when  I  was  at  our  picket  camps,  about  a  mile  in 
a  straight  line.  It  was  so  bad  that  it  kept  me  sick  pret 
ty  nearly  all  the  time  I  was  around  the  stockade.  The 
soldiers  preferred  picket  duty  to  sentry  duty  on  that  ac 
count." 

William  Williams,  another  rebel  soldier  on  duty  at 
the  time,  fully  confirms  this.  He  was  on  duty  both  on 
parapet  and  on  picket,  and  had  opportunity  of  observa 
tion.  In  reply  to  a  question  as  to  the  condition  of  the 
stockade,  he  says, 

"  It  was  as  nasty  as  a  place  could  be.  On  one  occasion 
I  saw  a  man  lying  there  who  had  not  clothes  enough  on 
him  to  hide  his  nakedness.  His  hip  bones  were  worn 
away.  He  had  put  up  two  sticks,  and  fastened  his  coat 
over  them,  to  keep  the  sun  off  his  face.  There  were  a 
good  many  lying  down  sick,  and  others  waiting  on  them. 
The  crowded  state  of  the  men  and  the  filthiness  of  the 
place  created  a  very  bad  odor.  I  have  smelt  it  at  the 
depot,  about  a  mile  from  the  stockade"  (Eecord,  p.  801). 

Again  he  says:  "The  stream  that  passed  through  the 
stockade  ran  down  between  the  1st  and  2d  Georgia  regi 
ments  and  Furlow's  battalion,  and  passed  the  bake-house. 
All  the  washings  from  the  bake-house  went  right  through 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  213 

the  stockade,  and  also  the  washings  from  the  camps. 
The  pits  used  by  the  men  were  not  five  feet  from  the 
stream.  Sometimes  when  it  was  rainy  it  was  thick  with 
mud  and  filth  from  the  drainings  of  the  camps  inside  the 
stockade." 

Calvin  Honeycutt,  another  rebel  soldier,  on  duty  from 
April,  1864,  to  April,  1865,  who  was  on  duty  on  the 
stockade  and  also  on  picket,  corroborates  the  testimony 
of  his  comrades. 

James  Mohan,  a  rebel  private,  afterward  made  a  lieu 
tenant,  who  was  on  duty  at  Andersonville  for  about  five 
months  during  the  summer  of  1864,  gives  similar  testi 
mony;  and  John  F.  Heath,  regimental  commissary  with 
the  rank  of  captain,  on  duty  from  May  till  October,  1864, 
fully  confirms  the  testimony  upon  this  point  already 


EVIDENCE  OF  RESIDENTS  OF  GEORGIA. 

Samuel  Hall,  a  prominent  gentleman  residing  in  Ma- 
con,  Georgia,  whose  sympathies,  he  tells  us,  were  from 
the  beginning  with  the  rebellion,  and  who  held  a  high 
civil  official  position,  says,  "  When  first  I  saw  it  (the  pris 
on)  in  the  month  of  August,  it  was  literally  crammed  and 
packed ;  there  was  scarcely  room  for  locomotion ;  it  was 
destitute  of  shelter,  as  well  as  I  could  judge,  and  at  that 
time  there  was  a  great  mortality  among  the  prisoners" 
(Record,  p.  864). 

Rev.  William  John  Hamilton  also  gives  important  tes 
timony  as  to  the  condition  of  the  stockade,  which  he  vis 
ited  in  the  capacity  of  a  priest.  He  was  there  in  May, 
and  at  different  periods  subsequently.  He  says : 


214  ANDERSON  VILLE. 

"  I  found  the  stockade  extremely  crowded,  with  a  great 
deal  of  sickness  and  suffering  among  the  men.  I  was 
kept  so  busy  administering  the  sacrament  to  the  dying 
that  I  had  to  curtail  a  great  deal  of  the  service  that  Cath 
olic  priests  administer  to  the  dying ;  they  died  so  fast,  I 
waited  only  upon  those  of  our  own  Church,  and  do  not 

include  others  among  the  dying The  stockade 

was  extremely  filthy,  the  men  all  huddled  together  and 
covered  with  vermin.  The  .best  idea  I  can  give  the 
court  of  the  condition  of  the  place  is  perhaps  this:  I  went 
in  there  with  a  white  linen  coat  on,  and  I  had  not  been 
in  there  more  than  ten  minutes  or  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
when  a  gentleman  drew  my  attention  to  the  condition  of 
my  coat :  it  was  all  covered  over  with  vermin,  and  I  had 
to  take  it  off  and  leave  it  with  one  of  the  guards,  and 
form  my  duties  in  my  shirt-sleeves,  the  place  was  so  fil 
thy"  (Record,  p.  1969). 

Again,  giving  an  illustration  of  the  sufferings  of  the 
prisoners,  and  especially  of  the  intense  heat  of  the  sun, 
he  says,  "  I  found  a  boy  not  more  than  sixteen  years  old, 
who  came  to  me  for  spiritual  comfort,  without  jacket  or 
coat,  or  any  covering  on  his  feet,  suffering  very  much 
from  a  wound  in  his  right  foot.  The  foot  was  split  open 
like  an  oyster,  and  on  inquiring  the  cause  I  was  told  it 
was  from  exposure  to  the  sun  in  the  stockade,  and  not 
from  any  wound  received  in  battle.  On  returning  to  the 
stockade  a  week  afterward  I  learned  that  he  stepped 
across  the  dead  line  and  requested  the  guard  to  shoot 

him He  had  no  medical  treatment,  nor  had  any 

others,  so  far  as  I  could  see,  to  whom  I  administered  the 
sacrament  in  the  stockade." 


ANDERSONVILLE.  215 

Again  he  says :  "  On  my  second  visit,  I  was  told  there 
was  an  Irishman  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  stockade  who 

was  calling  out  for  a  priest I  tried  to  cross  the 

branch  to  reach  him,  but  was  unable  to  do  so,  as  the  men 
were  all  crowding  around  there  trying  to  get  into  the 
water  to  cool  themselves  and  wash  themselves,  and  I  had 

to  leave  the  stockade  without  seeing  the  man 

The  heat  was  intolerable.  There  was  no  air  at  all  in 
the  stockade.  The  logs  of  which  the  stockade  was  com 
posed  were  so  close  together  that  I  could  not  feel  any 
fresh  air  inside,  and  with  a  strong  sun  beaming  down 
upon  it,  and  no  shelter  at  all,  of  course  the  heat  must 
have  been  insufferable ;  at  least  I  felt  it  so.  The  priests 
who  went  there  after  me,  while  administering  the  sacra 
ment  to  the  dying,  had  to  use  an  umbrella,  the  heat  was 
so  intense"  (Record,  p.  1981). 

Ambrose  Spencer,  a  gentleman  of  prominence  in  his 
state,  residing  near  Andersonville  during  the  war,  and  a 
frequent  visitor  to  that  place,  gives  us  a  graphic  picture 
of  the  prison  which  I  can  not  refrain  from  quoting. 

He  says,  "  I  had  frequent  opportunities  of  seeing  the 
condition  of  the  prisoners,  not  only  from  the  adjacent 
hills,  but  on  several  occasions  from  the  outside  of  the 
stockade,  where  the  sentinel's  grounds  were." 

And  in  reply  to  a  question  asking  him  to  describe  the 
condition  of  the  prisoners,  he  says,  "  I  can  only  answer 
the  question  by  saying  that  their  condition  was  as 
wretched  as  could  well  be  conceived,  not  only  from  ex 
posure  to  the  sun,  the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  and  the 
cold  of  winter,  but  from  the  filth — from  the  absolute  deg 
radation  which  was  evident  in  their  condition.  I  have 


216  ANDERSONVILLE. 

seen  that  stockade  after  three  or  four  days'  rain,  when 
the  mud,  I  should  think,  was  at  least  twelve  inches  deep. 
The  prisoners  were  walking  or  wading  through  that  mud. 

The  condition  of  the  stockade  can,  perhaps,  be 

expressed  most  accurately  by  saying  that,  in  passing  up 
and  down  the  railroad,  if  the  wind  was  favorable,  the 
odor  of  the  stockade  could  be  detected  at  least  two 
miles"  (Record,  p.  2455). 

There  are  others  of  this  class  who  testify  upon  this 
point,  but  it  would  seem  useless  to  give  farther  extracts. 

It  is  not  my  purpose,  in  this  connection,  to  enter  into  a 
detail  of  the  sufferings,  the  acts  of  cruelty  inflicted,  and 
the  inhuman  treatment  they  received,  or  to  inquire  by 
whom  these  things  were  done.  Reserving  that  for  its 
proper  place  in  the  argument,  I  shall  simply  refer  to  this 
testimony  to  assist  us  in  ascertaining  more  certainly  the 
horrors  to  which  these  brave  men  were  subjected. 

Dr.  A.W.  Barrows,  hospital  steward  of  the  27th  Massa 
chusetts  Regiment,  and  acting  assistant  post  surgeon  at 
Plymouth,  North  Carolina,  arrived  at  Andersonville  on 
the  28th  of  May,  and  remained  there  six  months.  Owing 
to  his  knowledge  of  medicine  and  efficiency,  he  was  pa 
roled  by  the  prisoner,  and  assigned  to  duty  in  the  hos 
pital.  His  testimony  is  important,  as  showing  the  con 
dition  of  the  hospital  mainly ;  but  he  has  also  given  some 
material  evidence  with  regard  to  the  stockade,  and  from 
it  I  make  the  following  extract : 

"I  remember  when  there  have  been  as  many  as  sev 
enty-five  to  one  hundred  who  died  during  the  day  in  the 
stockade,  and  who  were  never  taken  to  the  hospital. 
That  was  in  the  month  of  August." 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  217 

Eobert  II.  Kellogg  entered  the  prison  on  the  3d  of 
May,  1864,  and  remained  there  until  the  following  Sep 
tember.  He  says : 

u  We  found  the  men  in  the  stockade  ragged,  nearly 
destitute  of  clothing,  totally  unprovided  with  shelter  ex 
cept  that  which  tattered  blankets  could  afford.  They 
looked  nearly  starved.  They  were  skeletons  covered 
with  skin.  The  prison  seemed  very  crowded  to  us,  al 
though  there  were  thousands  brought  there  after  that. 
....  They  were  in  a  very  filthy  condition — indeed, 
there  were  but  two  issues  of  soap  made  while  I  was  there. 
....  When  we  first  went  there  the  nights  were  very 
cold.  That  soon  passed  away  as  the  season  advanced,  and 
during  the  summer  it  was  intensely  hot.  There  were 
twenty-one  rainy  days  in  the  month  of  June.  Our  supply 
of  fuel  was  not  regular  nor  sufficient.  We  were  allowed 
to  go  several  times  under  guard,  six  men  from  a  squad 
of  ninety,  to  bring  in  what  we  could  find  in  the  woods  on 
our  shoulders;  but  the  greater  part  of  the  time  we  had 
to  rely  upon  our  supply  of  roots,  which  we  dug  out  of 
the  ground  or  grubbed  for  in  the  swamp — pitch-pine 
roots Kations  were  issued  raw,  many  times  with 
out  fuel  to  cook  them.  The  squad  of  ninety,  of  which  I 
was  sergeant,  went  from  the  80th  of  June  to  the  30th  of 
August  without  any  issue  of  wood  from  the  authorities" 
(Record,  pp.  361  and  362). 

Again  he  says :  "  The  quality  of  the  rations  was  very 
poor;  the  quantity  greatly  varied.  There  were  days 
when  we  got  nothing  at  all.  I  made  a  note  of  at  least 

two  such  days There  were  other  days  when  wo 

got  but  very  little ;  other  clays  enough,  such  as  it  was. 

K 


218  ANDERSON  VILLE. 

When  my  regiment  went  there  the  men  were  healthy. 
They  gradually  sickened,  until,  I  remember,  one  morning 
at  roll-call,  out  of  my  ninety  there  were  thirty-two  who 
were  not  able  to  stand  up.  This  resulted  principally 
from  scurvy  and  diarrhoea.  This  was  on  the  21st  of  Au 
gust,  a  number  of  the  men  of  my  squad  having  died  up 
to  that  time.  The  mass  of  the  men  had  to  depend  on 
the  brook  for  their  water.  It  at  many  times  was  exceed 
ingly  filthy.  I  have  seen  it  completely  covered  with 
floating  grease,  and  dirt,  and  offal.  After  the  prisoners 
had  been  there  some  time  they  dug  some  wells,  and  there 
were  some  springs  along  the  south  side  of  the  prison,  on 
the  edge  of  the  hill  by  the  swamp,  but  the  supply  from 
that  source  was  entirely  inadequate;  they  supplied  the 

wants  of  a  few Of  the  four  hundred  men  captured 

with  me,  more  than  three  hundred  are  dead ;  they  died 
in  prison,  or  a  few  days  after  being  paroled,  and  that  is  a 
larger  percentage  of  living  than  there  is  in  many  regi 
ments.  The  24th  New  York  Battery,  which  was  cap 
tured  at  Plymouth,  was  nearly  annihilated"  (Record,  p. 
367). 

This  is  the  simple  unvarnished  narrative  of  perhaps 
as  intelligent  a  witness  as  has  been  upon  the  stand.  He 
has  written  a  book,  entitled  "  Life  and  Death  in  Southern 
Prisons,"  which  has  been  used  extensively  by  counsel 
for  the  accused. 

I  do  not  want  to  burden  the  record  with  a  recapitu 
lation  of  all  that  these  witnesses  have  testified  to,  but  I 
think  it  can  be  safely  said  that  not  one  word  of  Robert 
II.  Kellogg's  has  been  or  can  be  disproved.  There  are 
many  of  his  comrades  who  fully  confirm  him,  without 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  219 

adding  any  special  facts  that  would  tend  to  elucidate  this 
point.  These  I  shall  omit  in  this  connection.  There  are 
others,  however,  who  give  additional  facts  bearing  on  this 
subject,  and  I  beg  your  indulgence  while  I  refer  to  them. 

Boston  Corbett's  testimony  brings  out  some  facts  to 
which  I  first  will  call  your  attention.  Speaking  of  the 
heat,  he  says,  "  It  was  so  great  that  I  have  the  marks 
upon  my  shoulders  yet"  (Record,  p.  425).  Of  the  brook, 
and  the  swamp  bordering  it,  he  says,  "It  was  a  living 
mass  of  putrefaction  and  filth ;  there  were  maggots  there 
a  foot  deep  ;  any  time  we  turned  over  the  soil  we  could 
see  the  maggots  in  a  living  mass.  I  have  seen  the  sol 
diers  wading  through  it,  digging  for  roots  to  use  for  fuel ; 
I  have  seen  around  the  swamp  the  sick  in  great  num 
bers,  lying  pretty  much  as  soldiers  lie  when  they  are 
down  to  rest  in  line  after  a  march ;  in  the  morning  I 
could  see  those  who  had  died  during  the  night;  and  in 
the  daytime  I  could  see  them  exposed  to  the  heat  of  the 
sun,  with  their  feet  swelled  to  an  enormous  size — in  many 
cases  large  gangrene  sores,  the  sores  filled  with  maggots 
and  flies  which  they  were  unable  to  keep  off;  I  have 
seen  men  lay  there  in  an  utter  destitution,  not  able  to 
help  themselves,  lying  in  their  own  filth.  They  gener 
ally  chose  that  place  (near  the  swamp),  those  who  were 
most  offensive,  because  others  would  drive  them  away, 
not  wanting  to  be  near  those  who  had  such  bad  sores. 
They  chose  it  because  of  its  being  so  near  to  the  sinks. 
In  one  case  a  man  died  there,  I  am  satisfied,  from  the 
effects  of  lice ;  when  the  clothes  were  taken  off  his  body, 
the  lice  seemed  as  thick  as  the  garment — a  living  mass." 

Again :  "  The  water  in  the  stockade  was  often  very 


220  ANDERSON  VILLE. 

filthy.  Sometimes  it  was  middling  clear.  At  times  I 
would  go  to  those  who  had  wells  dug ;  sometimes  they 
would  give  me  a  drink,  sometimes  they  would  not ;  they 
used  such  rough  language  to  me  that  I  turned  away 
parched  with  thirst,  and  drank  water  from  the  stream 
rather  than  beg  it  from  the  men  who  had  wells"  (Ecc- 
ord,p.437). 

Again:  "The  minds  of  the  prisoners  were  in  many 
cases  so  affected  that  the  prisoners  became  idiotic"  (Rec 
ord,  p.  439). 

On  page  452  of  the  Record,  he  says,  "I  have  taken 
food  given  me  to  the  stream  and  washed  the  maggots 
from  it.  I  have  seen  them  in  the  sores  of  soldiers  there, 
and  I  have  seen  them  in  such  a  way  that  it  is  hardly  fit 
to  describe  in  this  court." 

Too  terrible  for  belief  as  this  may  seem  to  be,  it  stands 
confirmed  by  at  least  fifty  witnesses. 

Martin  E.  Hogan  is  a  witness  whom  the  court  will 
remember  as  among  the  more  intelligent,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  truthful  and  candid.  His  observations  were 
confined  mainly  to  the  hospital,  but  I  feel  impelled  to 
make  a  brief  extract  from  his  testimony  in  regard  to  the 
stockade. 

He  says:  "  At  the  time  of  my  arrival  there  (speaking  of 
the  stockade)  it  was  very  much  crowded,  so  much  so  that 
you  could  scarcely  elbow  your  way  through  the  crowd 
in  any  part  of  the  camp.  I  noticed  a  great  many  men 
lying  helpless  on  the  ground,  seemingly  without  care, 
without  any  body  to  attend  to  them,  lying  in  their  own 
filth ;  a  great  many  of  them  calling  for  water ;  a  great 
many  crying  for  food ;  nobody  apparently  paying  any 


ANDERSONVILLE.  221 

heed  to  them ;  others  almost  destitute  of  clothing,  so  nu 
merous  that  I  could  not  begin  to  say  how  many"  (Rec 
ord,  p.  515). 

Then  follows  testimony  similar  to  that  of  Boston  Cor- 
bett  in  regard  to  the  swamp  and  vermin  in  it. 

Andrew  J.  Spring,  who  went  to  Andersonville  in  May, 
1864,  says  that,  upon  entering  the  stockade,  "I  found  the 
prisoners  destitute  of  clothing ;  I  could  not  tell,  in  many 
cases,  whether  they  were  white  men  or  negroes." 

On  the  2 7 tli  of  the  same  month  he  was  detailed  for 
duty  outside.  After  being  outside  the  stockade  about  six 
weeks,  he  says,  "I  applied  to  the  lieutenant  of  the  guard 
at  the  gate,  and  gave  him  twelve  dollars  in  greenbacks 
to  let  me  go  in  and  stay  an  hour  to  see  our  boys.  I  went 
in,  and  spent  an  hour  inside  the  stockade.  A  great  many 
of  the  boys  were  very  poor.  They  were  some  of  my  own 
best  friends,  whom  I  could  not  recognize  till  they  came 
and  shook  hands  with  me,  and  made  themselves  known ; 
even  then  I  could  hardly  believe  they  were  the  same 
men.  I  have  seen  men,  acquaintances  of  mine,  who 
would  go  around  there,  not  knowing  any  thing  at  ail- 
hardly  noticing  any  thing ;  I  have  seen  men  crippled  up 
so  that  they  had  scarcely  any  life  in  them  at  all ;  they 
would  lie  on  the  ground,  to  all  appearance  dead ;  I  went 
up  to  several  who  I  thought  were  dead,  but  I  found  they 
had  a  little  life  in  them." 

James  II.  Davidson  (Record,  p.  936-J-),  speaking  of  the 
condition  of  the  stockade,  says,  "  I  have  seen  men  who 
had  the  appearance  of  being  starved  to  death.  I  have 
seen  men  pick  up  and  eat  undigested  food  that  had  passed 
through  other  men  all  through  the  camp.  It  came  from 


222  ANDERSONVILLE. 

men  who  were  not  able  to  go  to  the  slough,  and  they 
would  find  it  all  through  the  camp."  This,  it  will  be  re 
membered,  is  testified  to  by  very  many. 

Daniel  W.  Burringer  says,  "I  have  seen  men  eat  un 
digested  food  that  had  passed  through  #ther  men ;  they 
would  wash  it  and  eat  it — pick  it  up  from  the  sinks" 
(Record,  p.  1125). 

CONDITION  OF  THE  HOSPITAL. 

It  is  not  proposed  to  enter  as  fully  into  the  condition 
of  the  hospital  as  might  be  done  from  the  reports  and 
evidence  before  us.  Sufficient  will  be  given,  however, 
to  warrant  the  conclusion  that  it  was  very  little  better 
than  that  of  the  stockade  itself;  and,  in  view  of  the  dis 
crimination  which  the  surgeons  were  directed  to  make  in 
the  admission  of  men  from  the  stockade  into  the  hospital, 
we  can  readily  understand  why  the  prisoners  almost  uni 
formly  bade  their  comrades  farewell  when  they  were 
taken  from  the  stockade  to  the  hospital.  The  evidence 
which  I  shall  bring  to  your  recollection  will  also  justify 
the  remark  made  by  one  of  the  surgeons,  who  says  that 
it  really  was  no  hospital. 

Here,  also,  we  have  recourse  to  the  official  report  of 
Dr.  Joseph  Jones,  in  which  we  find  his  remarks  upon  the 
condition  of  the  hospital  quite  as  lucid  and  elaborate  as 
those  in  reference  to  the  stockade. 

After  speaking  of  the  stream  running  through  one  cor 
ner  of  the  hospital  stockade,  and  stating  that  its  upper 
portion  was  used  for  washing  by  the  patients,  and  the 
lower  portion  as  a  sink,  he  remarks : 

"This  part  of  the  stream  is  a  semi-fluid  mass  of  hu- 


ANDERSONVILLE.  228 

man  excrement,  and  offal,  and  filth  of  all  kinds.  This 
immense  cess-pool,  fermenting  beneath  the  hot  sun,  emit 
ted  an  overpowering  stench North  of  the  hospital 

grounds,  the  stream  which  flows  through  the  stockade 
pursues  its  sluggish  and  filthy  course.  The  exhalations 
from  the  swamp,  which  is  loaded  with  the  excrement  of 
the  prisoners  confined  in  the  stockade,  exert  their  delete 
rious  influences  on  the  inmates  of  the  hospital." 

Within  the  hospital  inclosure,  less  than  five  acres,  he 
says,  "  The  patients  and  attendants,  near  two  thousand, 
are  crowded,  and  are  but  poorly  supplied  with  old  and 
ragged  tents.  A  large  number  of  them  are  without  any 
bunks  in  the  tents,  and  lay  upon  the  ground,  oftentimes 
without  even  a  blanket.  No  beds  or  straw  appear  to 
have  been  furnished." 

The  tents  extended  to  within  a  few  yards  of  the  small 
stream,  which,  as  he  before  observed,  was  used  as  a  privy, 
and  was  loaded  with  excrement. 

{il  observed,"  he  says,  "a  large  pile  of  corn-bread, 
bones,  and  filth  of  all  kinds,  thirty  feet  in  diameter,  and 
several  feet  in  height,  swarming  with  myriads  of  flies,  in 
a  vacant  space  near  the  pots  used  for  cooking.  Millions 
of  flies  swarmed  over  every  thing,  and  covered  the  faces 
of  the  sleeping  patients,  crowded  down  their  mouths,  and 
deposited  their  maggots  upon  the  gangrenous  wounds  of 
the  living  and  the  mouths  of  the  dead.  Musquitoes  in 
great  numbers  also  infested  the  tents,  and  many  of  the 
patients  were  so  stung  by  these  pestiferous  insects  that 
they  resembled  those  suffering  with  a  slight  attack  of 
measles.  The  police  and  hygiene  of  the  hospital  was  de 
fective  in  the  extreme"  (Record,  pp.  4350-4351). 


224  ANDERSONVILLE. 

Again :  "  Many  of  the  sick  were  literally  incrusted 
with  dirt  and  filth,  and  covered  with  vermin.  When  a 
gangrene  wound  needed  washing,  the  limb  was  thrust  out 
a  little  from  the  blanket,  or  board,  or  rags  upon  which 
the  patient  was  lying,  and  water  poured  over  it,  and  all 
the  putrescent  matter  allowed  to  soak  into  the  ground 

floor  of  the  tent I  saw  the  most  filthy  rags,  which 

had  been  applied  several  times  and  imperfectly  washed, 
used  in  dressing  recent  wounds.  Where  hospital  gan 
grene  was  prevailing,  it  was  impossible  for  any  wound 
to  escape  contagion  under  the  circumstances"  (Record, 
p.  354). 

Of  the  treatment  of  the  dead,  he  says,  "The  manner  of 
disposing  of  the  dead  is  also  calculated  to  depress  the  al 
ready  despondent  spirits  of  these  men  ....  The  dead- 
house  is  merely  a  frame  covered  with  old  tent-cloth  and 
a  few  bushes,  situated  in  the  southwestern  corner  of  the 
hospital  grounds.  When  a  patient  dies,  he  is  simply  laid 
in  the  narrow  street  in  the  front  of  his  tent  until  he  is  re 
moved  by  the  Federal  negroes  detailed  to  carry  off  the 
dead.  If  the  patient  dies  during  the  night,  he  lies  there 
until  morning  ;  and  during  the  day,  even,  the  dead  were 
frequently  allowed  to  remain  for  hours  in  these  walks. 
In  the  dead-house  the  corpses  lay  on  the  bare  ground, 
and  were  in  most  cases  covered  with  filth  and  vermin" 
(Kecord,  p.  4355). 

Farther  on  he  says,  "  The  cooking  arrangements  are 
of  the  most  defective  character.  Two  large  iron  pots, 
similar  to  those  used  for  boiling  sugar-cane,  appeared  to 
be  the  only  cooking  utensils  furnished  by  the  hospital 
for  the  cooking  of  near  two  thousand  men,  and  the  pa- 


ANDERSOISTVILLE.  225 

tients  were  dependent  in  a  great  measure  on  their  own 

miserable  utensils The  air  of  the  tents  was  foul 

and  disagreeable  in  the  extreme,  and,  in  fact,  the  entire 
grounds  emitted  a  most  noxious  and  disgusting  smell.  I 
entered  nearly  all  the  tents,  and  carefully  examined  the 
cases  of  interest,  and  especially  the  cases  of  gangrene, 
during  the  prosecution  of  my  pathological  inquiries  at 
Andersonville,  and  therefore  enjoyed  every  opportunity 
to  judge  correctly  of  the  hygiene  and  police  of  the  hospi 
tal''  (Record,  p.  4357). 

To  show  that  this  frightful  condition  of  affairs  did 
cease  after  a  great  portion  of  the  prisoners  were  removed, 
Dr.  Jones  observes:  "The  ratio  of  mortality  continued 
to  increase  during  September;  for,  notwithstanding  the 
removal  of  half  the  entire  number  of  prisoners  during 
the  early  portion  of  the  month,  seventeen  hundred  and 
fifty-seven  deaths  were  registered  from  September  1st  to 
the  21st,  and  the  largest  number  of  deaths  upon  any  one 
day  occurred  during  this  month,  on  the  16th,  viz.,  one 
hundred  and  nineteen. 

Afterward,  remarking  upon  the  causes  of  the  great 
mortality  among  the  Federal  prisoners,  he  says,  "  The 
chief  causes  of  death  were  scurvy  and  its  results,  bowel 
affections,  and  chronic  and  acute  diarrhoea,  and  dysen 
tery.  The  bowel  affections  appeared  to  have  been  due 
to  the  diet  and  habits  of  the  patients,  the  depressed,  de 
jected  state  of  the  nervous  system  and  moral  and  intel 
lectual  powers,  and  to  the  effluvia  arising  from  decom 
posed  animal  and  vegetable  filth"  (Record,  p.  4372). 

He  says  also :  "Almost  every  amputation  was  followed 
finally  by  death,  either  from  the  effects  of  gangrene,  or 

K  2 


226  ANDERSONVILLE. 

from  the  prevailing  diarrhoea  and  dysentery So 

far  as  my  observation  extended,  very  few  of  the  cases  of 
amputation  for  gangrene  recovered"  (Record,  p.  4378). 

The  evidence  of  Dr.  John  C.  Bates  is  important  as 
showing  the  condition  of  the  hospital.  He  was  a  rebel 
surgeon,  on  duty  at  Andersonville  from  the  middle  of 
September,  1864,  to  the  last  of  March,  1865,  embracing  a 
period  when  it  is  claimed  the  sufferings  were  much  light 
er  than  they  had  been.  This,  we  have  already  seen  by 
Dr.  Jones's  report,  was  not  true,  even  after  thousands  of 
the  prisoners  had  been  sent  away,  and  we  shall  see  from 
the  testimony  of  Dr.  Bates  that  it  is  wholly  incorrect. 
He  says : 

"Upon  going  to  the  ward  to  which  I  was  assigned,  I 
was  shocked  at  the  appearance  of  things.  The  men  were 
lying  partially  nude,  and  dying,  and  lousy ;  a  portion  of 
them  in  the  sand,  and  others  upon  boards  which  had 
been  stuck  up  on  little  props,  pretty  well  crowded ;  a  ma 
jority  of  them  in  small  tents I  would  go  to  other 

parts  of  the  hospital  when  officer  of  the  day.  The  men 
would  gather  round  me  and  ask  for  a  bone.  I  would 
give  them  whatever  I  could  find  at  my  disposition  with 
out  robbing  others.  I  well  knew  that  an  appropriation 
of  one  ration  took  it  from  the  general  issue ;  that  when  I 
appropriated  an  extra  ration  to  one  man,  some  one  else 
would  fall  minus.  I  then  fell  back  upon  the  distribution 
of  bones.  They  did  not  presume  to  ask  me  for  meat  at 
all.  So  far  as  rations  are  concerned,  that  is  the  way  mat 
ters  went  along  for  some  time  after  I  went  there 

They  could  not  be  furnished  with  any  clothing  except  the 
clothing  of  the  dead,  which  was  generally  appropriated  to 


ANDERSONVILLE.  227 

the  living.  There  was  a  partial  supply  of  fuel,  but  not 
sufficient  to  keep  the  men  warm  and  prolong  their  exist 
ence.  As  medical  officer  of  the  clay,  I  made  examinations 
beyond  my  own  ward,  and  reported  the  condition.  As 
a  general  thing,  the  patients  were  destitute,  filthy,  and 
partly  naked.  The  clamor  all  the  while  was  for  some 
thing  to  eat"  (Record,  p.  125). 

Dr.  G.  Gr.  Roy,  whose  testimony  was  before  referred  to, 
in  speaking  of  the  hospital,  says,  "  I  found  it  in  a  very 
deplorable  condition.  There  was  no  comfort  attached  to 
it  whatever.  Many  of  the  tents  were  badly  worn,  torn, 
and  rotten,  and,  of  course,  permitted  the  water  to  leak 
through.  The  patients  were  not  furnished  with  bunks, 
or  bedding,  or  bedclothing,  or  any  thing  of  that  sort" 
(Record,  p.  480). 

He  speaks,  as  did  all  the  other  medical  officers  on  duty 
there,  of  the  great  dearth  of  medicines,  but  also  concurs 
with  most  of  them  in  the  opinion  that  medicine  was  not 
so  much  needed  as  proper  diet;  and  he  confirms  gener 
ally  the  description  given  by  Dr.  Jones. 

On  the  26th  day  of  September,  Dr.  Amos  Thornburg, 
assistant  surgeon,  in  a  report  to  Dr.  Stevenson,  the  sur 
geon  in  charge  (see  Exhibit  No.  30),  calls  special  atten 
tion  to  the  very  bad  sanitary  condition  of  the  hospital. 
He  reports  "  that  patients  are  lying  on  the  cold  ground 
without  bedding  or  blankets ;  also,  that  we  have  a  very 
scanty  supply  of  jnedicines,  and  that  the  rations  are  not 
of  the  proper  kind,  and  not  issued  in  proper  quantity." 


228  ANDEBSONVILLE. 


CHAPTER  XYII. 

Charge  of  Conspiracy. — The  Law  implicating  Co-conspirators. — Davis. 
— Seddon. — Winder. — Intimacy  of  Davis  and  Winder. 

THE  CHARGE  OF  CONSPIRACY. 

WE  come  now  to  the  consideration  of  the  third  branch 
of  the  subject.  Having  presented  a  faithful  representa 
tion —  faithful,  because  the  witnesses  themselves  have 
given  it — of  the  condition  of  the  stockade  and  the  hos 
pital,  we  shall  proceed  to  unfold  the  extent  of  the  con 
spiracy,  the  purposes  of  the  conspirators,  and  the  cruel 
and  devilish  means  resorted  to  to  accomplish  their  ends. 

I  confess  to  you,  gentlemen,  that  I  enter  upon  this 
branch  of  the  argument  with  regret  and  reluctance.  I 
confess  that,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  our  nationality 
and  the  good  name  we  bear  are  involved  in  the  issue ; 
but  I  do  not  fear  to  present  to  the  world  on  this  account 
this  great  conspiracy  of  treason,  this  confederation  of 
traitors,  though  it  shock  the  moral  sentiment  of  the  uni 
verse  ;  for,  however  much  we  may  deplore  the  fact  that 
at  its  head  and  front  were  Americans,  once  prominent  in 
the  councils  of  the  nation,  they  have  forfeited  all  rights 
— they  have  ceased  in  any  way  to  represent  the  true 
spirit  of  Americanism — they  are  outlaws  and  criminals, 
and  can  not,  by  their  crimes,  attaint  our  fair  escutcheon. 
It  is  the  work  of  treason,  the  legitimate  result  of  that  sum 
of  all  villainies,  and  which,  by  many,  very  many  proofs 
during  the  past  four  years,  has  shown  itself  capable  of 


ANDERSONVILLE.  229 

this  last  one  developed.  When  we  remember  that  the 
men  here  charged,  and  those  inculpated,  but  not  named 
in  the  indictment,  are  some  of  them  men  who  were  at 
the  head  of  the  late  rebellion  from  its  beginning  to  its 
close,  and,  as  such  chiefs,  sanctioned  the  brutal  conduct 
of  their  soldiers  as  early  as  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run — 
who  perpetrated  unheard-of  cruelties  at  Libby  and  Belle 
Island — who  encouraged  the  most  atrocious  propositions 
of  retaliation  in  their  Congress — who  sanctioned  a  guer 
rilla  mode  of  warfare — who  instituted  a  system  of  steam 
boat  burning  and  firing  of  cities — who  employed  a  sur 
geon  in  their  service  to  steal  into  our  capital  city  infected 
clothing — who  approved  the  criminal  treatment  of  the 
captured  garrisons  at  Fort  Pillow,  Fort  Washington,  and 
elsewhere — who  were  guilty  of  the  basest  treachery  of 
sending  paroled  prisoners  into  the  field — who  planted  tor 
pedoes  in  the  paths  of  our  soldiers — who  paid  their  emis 
saries  for  loading  shells  in  the  shape  of  coals,  and  inter 
mixing  them  in  the  fuel  of  our  steamers — who  ordered 
an  indiscriminate  firing  upon  our  transports,  and  vessels, 
and  railroad  trains,  regardless  of  whom  they  contained — 
who  organized  and  carried  to  a  successful  termination  a 
most  diabolical  conspiracy  to  assassinate  the  President  of 
the  United  States:  when  we  remember  these  things  of 
these  men,  may  we  not,  without  hesitancy,  bring  to  light 
the  conspiracy  here  charged  ? 

Before,  however,  entering  into  a  discussion  of  the  evi 
dence,  let  me  present  the  law  governing  in  cases  of  con 
spiracy.  I  quote  from  the  very  able  argument  of  Hon. 
John  A.  Bingham,  delivered  for  the  prosecution  in  the 
trial  of  the  conspirators  for  the  assassination  of  President 


230  ANDERSONVILLE. 

Lincoln,  whose  law  propositions  and  authorities  given  can 
not  be  gainsaid. 

"  If  the  conspiracy  be  established  as  laid,  it  results  that 
whatever  was  said  or  done  by  either  of  the  parties  there 
to  in  the  furtherance  or  execution  of  the  common  design, 
is  the  declaration  or  act  of  all  the  other  parties  to  the 
conspiracy ;  and  this,  whether  the  other  parties,  at  the 
time  such  words  were  uttered  or  such  acts  done  by  their 
confederates,  were  present  or  absent." 

The  declared  and  accepted  rule  of  law  in  cases  of  con 
spiracy  is  that,  "  where  several  persons  are  proved  to 
have  combined  together  for  the  same  illegal  purpose,  any 
act  done  by  one  of  the  party  in  pursuance  of  the  original 
concerted  plan  and  in  reference  to  the  common  object,  is, 
in  the  contemplation  of  law  as  well  as  of  sound  reason, 
the  act  of  the  whole  party,  and  therefore  the  proof  of  the 
act  will  be  evidence  against  any  of  the  others  who  were 
engaged  in  the  same  general  conspiracy,  without  regard 
to  the  question  whether  the  prisoner  is  proved  to  have 
been  concerned  in  the  particular  transaction"  (Phillips  on 
Evidence,  p.  210). 

The  same  rule  obtains  in  cases  of  treason  :  "  If  several 
persons  agree  to  levy  war,  some  in  one  place  and  some 
in  another,  and  one  party  do  actually  appear  in  arms, 
this  is  levying  of  war  by  all,  as  well  those  who  were  not 
in  arms  as  those  who  were,  if  it  were  done  in  pursuance 
of  the  original  concert,  for  those  who  made  the  attempt 
were  emboldened  by  the  confidence  inspired  by  the  gen 
eral  concert,  and  therefore  these  particular  acts  are  in 
justice  imputable  to  all  the  rest"  (1  East,  Pleas  of  the 
Crown,  p.  97 ;  Roscoe,  84). 


ANDERSONVILLE.  231 

In  ex  parte  Bollman  and  Swartwout,  4  Cranch,  126, 
Marshal],  chief  justice,  rules,  "If  war  be  actually  levied 
—that  is,  if  a  body  of  men  are  actually  assembled  for  the 
purpose  of  effecting  by  force,  for  treasonable  purpose,  all 
those  who  perform  any  part,  however  minute,  or  howev 
er  remote  from  the  scene  of  action,  and  who  are  actually 
leagued  in  the  general  conspiracy,  are  to  be  considered 
as  traitors." 

In  the  United  States  vs.  Cole  et  al,  5  McLean,  601,  Mr. 
Justice  McLean  says:  "A  conspiracy  is  rarely,  if  ever, 
proved  by  positive  testimony.  When  a  crime  of  high 
magnitude  is  about  to  be  perpetrated  by  a  combination 
of  individuals,  they  do  not  act  openly,  but  covertly  and 
secretly.  The  purpose  formed  is  known  only  to  those 
who  enter  into  it.  Unless  one  of  the  original  conspira 
tors  betray  his  companions,  and  give  evidence  against 
them,  their  guilt  can  only  be  proved  by  circumstantial 

evidence It  is  said  by  some  writers  on  evidence 

that  such  circumstances  are  stronger  than  positive  proof. 
A  witness  swearing  positively,  it  is  said,  may  misappre 
hend  the  facts  or  swear  falsely,  but  that  circumstances 

can  not  lie The  common  design  is  the  essence  of 

the  charge ;  and  this  may  be  made  to  appear  when  the 
defendants  steadily  pursue  the  same  object,  whether  act 
ing  separately  or  together,  by  common  or  different  means, 
all  leading  to  the  same  unlawful  result.  And  where  pri- 
ma  facie  evidence  has  been  given  of  a  combination,  the 

acts  or  confessions  of  one  are  evidence  against  all 

It  is  reasonable  that  where  a  body  of  men  assume  the  at 
tribute  of  individuality,  whether  for  commercial  business 
or  the  commission  of  a  crime,  that  the  association  should 


232  ANDERSONVILLE, 

be  bound  by  the  acts  of  one  of  its  members  in  carrying 
out  the  design." 

"It  is  the  rule  of  law,  not  to  be  overlooked  in  this 
connection,  that  the  conspiracy  or  agreement  of  the  par 
ties,  or  some  of  them,  to  act  in  concert  to  accomplish  the 
unlawful  act  charged,  may  be  established  either  by  direct 
evidence  of  a  meeting  or  consultation  for  the  illegal  pur 
pose  charged,  or,  more  usually,  from  the  very  nature  of 
the  case,  by  circumstantial  evidence"  (2  Starkie,  232). 

Lord  Mansfield  ruled  "  that  it  was  not  necessary  to 
prove  the  actual  fact  of  a  conspiracy,  but  that  it  may  be 
collected  from  collateral  circumstances"  (Parsons's  Case, 
1  W.  Blackstone,  392). 

"If,"  says  a  great  authority  on  the  law  of  evidence, 
"on  a  charge  of  conspiracy,  it  appears  that  two  persons 
by  their  acts  are  pursuing  the  same  object,  and  often  by 
the  same  means,  or  one  performing  part  of  the  act,  and 
the  other  completing  it  for  the  attainment  of  the  same 
object,  the  jury  may  draw  the  conclusion  there  is  a  con 
spiracy.  If  a  conspiracy  be  formed,  and  a  person  join  in 
it  afterward,  he  is  equally  guilty  with  the  original  con 
spirators"  (Roscoe,  415). 

"  The  rule  of  the  admissibility  of  the  acts  and  decla 
rations  of  any  one  of  the  conspirators,  said  or  done  in 
furtherance  of  the  common  design,  applies  in  cases  as 
well  where  only  part  of  the  conspirators  are  indicted  and 
upon  trial.  Thus,  upon  an  indictment  for  murder,  if  it 
appear  that  others,  together  with  the  prisoner,  conspired 
to  commit  the  crime,  the  act  of  one,  done  in  pursuance 
of  that  intention,  will  be  evidence  against  the  rest"  (2 
Starkie,  237).  "  They  are  alike  guilty  as  principals" 


ANDERSONVILLE.  233 

(Commonwealth  vs.  Knapp,  9  Pickering,  496 ;  10  Picker 
ing,  477  ;  6  Term  Reports,  528  ;  11  East,  584). 

Let  us  see  what  the  evidences  are  of  a  common  design 
to  murder  by  starvation  these  hapless,  helpless  wretches. 
First,  then,  who  are  the  officers,  high  and  low,  civil  and 
military,  whom  the  evidence  implicates  in  this  great 
crime  ?  As  I  shall  show  you  by  the  testimony,  there  are 
associated  in  this  conspiracy,  as  directly  implicated  and 
as  perpetrators,  the  prisoner  at  the  bar,  Brigadier  General 
John  II.  Winder,  Surgeon  Josiah  II.  White,  Surgeon  R  R. 
Stevenson,  Dr.Kerr,  Captain  R.  B.  Winder,  Captain  W.  S. 
Winder,  Captain  Reed,  James  II.  Duncan,  W.  W.  Turner, 
and  Benjamin  Harris.  Remote  from  the  scene,  but  no 
less  responsible  than  those  named — nay,  rather  with  a 
greater  weight  of  guilt  resting  upon  them,  are  the  leader 
of  the  rebellion,  his  war  minister,  his  surgeon  general,  his 
commissary  and  quartermaster  general,  his  commissioner 
of  exchange,  and  all  others  sufficiently  high  in  authority 
to  have  prevented  these  atrocities,  and  to  whom  the 
knowledge  of  them  was  brought. 

Chief  among  the  conspirators  and  the  actual  participa 
tors  in  the  crime,  the  immediate  tool  first  and  last  of  the 
rebel  government,  we  shall  see,  was  General  Winder.  It 
is  proper,  therefore,  that  we  should  know  who  he  was,  and 
the  precise  relations  he  bore  to  the  government  which 
he  represented. 

We  learn  from  many  sources  that  he  had  for  a  long 
time  prior  to  the  organization  of  the  Anderson ville  pris 
on  been  at  the  head  of  the  military  prisons  in  and  around 
Richmond,  holding  also  the  position  of  provost  marshal 
of  that  important  centre  of  the  rebellion. 


234  ANDEKSONVILLE. 

We  learn  from  the  witness '  J.  B.  Jones  (Record,  p. 
2531)  that  his  rule  as  provost  marshal  was  almost  a 
reign  of  terror ;  that  his  authority  was  so  great  he  could 
arrest  men  indiscriminately  even  in  distant  states,  and 
that  he  was  constantly  sustained  and  supported  by  Jef 
ferson  Davis,  and  his  confidential  adviser  and  premier, 
Mr.  Benjamin. 

The  witness  Cashmeyer  (Record,  pp.  2840-41),  the  con 
fidential  detective  and  constant  companion  of  General 
Winder  till  the  close  of  the  rebellion,  says,  "  Their  rela 
tions  (those  of  Davis  and  Winder)  were  very  friendly 
indeed,  and  very  confidential ;  I  often  heard  General 
Winder  say  so ;  I  often  saw  him  go  there  and  come  from 
there."  About  the  time  General  Winder's  reign  of  ter 
ror  was  at  its  climax,  and  there  was  great  opposition  felt 
and  expressed  toward  him  both  in  and  out  of  the  rebel 
Congress,  a  combined  effort  was  made  to  have  him  re 
lieved  and  sent  away,  Generals  Bragg  and  Ransom  being 
prominent  in  the  movement. 

At  this  time  Cashmeyer  says,  "President  Davis  was 
his  (Winder's)  especial  friend ;  when  the  order  relieving 
General  Winder  came  from  the  War  Department,  he 
took  it  and  went  up  to  Mr.  Davis.  President  Davis  in 
dorsed  on  it,  as  well  as  I  can  recollect,  that  '  it  was  en 
tirely  unnecessary  and  uncalled  for.'  "  Some  time  after 
this  it  was  thought  wise  by  the  rebel  authorities  to  or 
ganize  the  Andersonville  Prison,  and  the  whole  matter 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  General  Winder  by  orders  is 
sued  from  the  War  Department  for  that  purpose.  Gen 
eral  Winder  himself  did  not  go  to  Andersonville  until 
about  the  1st  of  June,  but  he  sent  forward,  as  we  learn 


ANDERSOXVILLE.  235 

from  the  testimony  of  Cashmeyer  (Record,  p.  23-12),  of 
Spencer  (Record,  p.  24:5-1),  of  Colonel  Persons  (Record,  p. 
600),  of  Captain  Wright  (Record,  p.  790),  and  others,  his 
son  Captain  W.  S.  Winder,  of  his  staff,  as  his  special  ex 
ecutive  officer,  and,  as  we  learn  from  the  testimony  of 
Colonel  Persons  (Record,  p.  613),  "  with  absolute  discre 
tion  in  the  location  of  the  prison."  This  was  in  the  lat 
ter  part  of  December,  1863. 

Shortly  after,  another  staff  officer  of  General  Winder's, 
a  nephew  of  his,  Captain  R.  B.  Winder,  a  quarter-master, 
arrived  at  Andersonville,  and  assumed  the  duties  of  his 
office.  Captain  Wright,  in  speaking  of  him  (Record,  p. 
2-li7),  says  :•  "He  told  me  that  he  had  no  orders  to  report 
to  any  quarter-master  at  all ;  that  he  reported  directly  to 
Richmond,  and  received  his  instructions  from  Richmond." 
Subsequently,  in  the  month  of  March,  1864,  General  Win 
der  sent  still  another  of  his  staff  officers,  the  prisoner  at 
the  bar,  who,  as  we  learn  from  his  report,  made  May  8th 
(see  Exhibit  No.  16),  was  assigned  to  the  command  of 
the  prison  on  the  27th  of  March. 

Of  him  Colonel  Persons  says  (Record,  p.  602  and  fol 
lowing),  "He  came  direct  from  Richmond — my  under 
standing  was,  by  order  of  General  Winder.  I  saw  an  offi 
cial  order  to  that  effect.  I  received  a  communication, 
about  the  time  Captain  Wirz  reached  there,  from  General 
Winder.  It  stated  that  Captain  Wirz  was  an  old  prison 
officer,  a  very  reliable  man,  and  capable  of  governing 
prisoners,  and  wound  up  that  I  would  give  him  com 
mand  of  the  prison  proper." 

From  the  return  of  staff  officers  made  by  General  Win 
der  after  he  had  himself  arrived  at  Andersonville,  and 


236  ANDERSONVILLE. 

who,  lie  says,  were  acting  under  orders  of  Brigadier  Gen 
eral  John  H.  Winder,  commanding  the  post  at  Anderson- 
ville,  Georgia,  commanding  the  camps  and  stockade  con 
taining  Federal  prisoners  of  war,  and  the  guard  troops 
for  the  same,  the  prison  of  Federal  prisoners  of  war  at 
Macon,  etc.,  etc.,  we  find  that  Dr.  Isaiah  H.  "White,  also 
on  his  staff,  was  assigned  to  duty  at  Anderson  ville,  by 
orders  of  the  War  Department  at  Eichmond,  as  chief 
surgeon  in  charge  of  the  prison  hospital.  He  arrived  at 
Andersonville  about  the  same  time  as  the  two  Captains 
Winder. 

This  comprises  the  original  corps  of  officers  sent  from 
Eichmond  to  carry  out  the  hellish  purposes  of  the  rebel 
government,  and  which,  as  we  shall  see  as  we  advance, 
was  most  faithfully  done  by  them.  Can  there  be  any 
doubt  as  to  what  the  original  purpose  of  the  rebel 
government  was  ?  Let  us  go  to  the  very  origin  of  the 
prison. 

You  will  remember  that  when  Colonel  Persons  was  on 
the  stand,  he  told  you  that,  assuming  to  do  what  the  law 
and  the  army  regulations  made  it  the  duty  of  the  quar 
ter-master  to  do,  and  which,  in  his  case,  Captain  Winder 
had  wholly  neglected  to  do,  he  sent  to  the  different  saw 
mills  along  the  line  of  the  railroad  for  lumber,  moved,  as 
he  tells  you,  by  a  feeling  of  humanity,  and  a  desire  to 
alleviate,  in  some  way,  the  sufferings  of  the  prisoners. 
He  says  (Eecord,  p.  608):  "I  had  concentrated  there,  I 
suppose,  about  five  or  six  train-loads  of  lumber ;  I  sup 
pose  nearly  fifty  car-loads."  I  quote  farther  from  the 
Eecord  the  following : 

"  Q.  Were  you  permitted  to  erect  a  shelter? 


ANDERSONVILLE.  237 

"  A.  I  was  in  the  act  of  doing  so — was  just  carrying 
the  lumber,  when  I  was  relieved. 

"  Q.  By  whom? 

11  A.  By  General  Winder. 

"  Q.  Had  he  arrived  on  the  same  day? 

"  A.  He  arrived  there  about  that  time. 

"  Q.  Was  your  plan  carried  out? 

"  A.  I  went  into  the  stockade  several  times  after  I  was 
relieved  from  duty,  and  I  saw  no  shelter  there.  I  saw 
forty  or  fifty  houses  springing  up  outside  of  the  grounds. 
The  lumber  disappeared  in  that  way." 

At  this  time  the  journal  of  the  prison  shows  there 
were  over  nineteen  thousand  prisoners  in  the  stockade. 
This  was  the  first  official  act  of  General  Winder  on  his 
arrival.  It  was  the  third  time  Colonel  Persons  had  given 
mortal  offense,  and  he  was  no  longer  to  be  tolerated. 
What  could  more  strongly  present  the  unmitigated  dia 
bolism  of  that  friend  of  President  Davis — that  man,  upon 
the  order  relieving  whom  the  rebel  chief  wrote,  "It  is 
entirely  unnecessary  and  uncalled  for?"  This  was  the 
man  who  found  a  ready  advocate  in  the  rebel  premier, 
Mr.  Benjamin,  and  who  was  not  only  sustained  from  the 
first  to  the  last  by  his  chief,  but  was  rewarded  for  official 
conduct  that  will  place  his  name  among  those  of  the  most 
infamous  of  any  age  or  clime.  General  Winder's  second 
act  was  to  establish  himself  comfortably,  and  at  a  respect 
ful  distance  from  the  prison,  where  he  remained  from  the 
first  of  June  until  early  in  the  fall. 

Notice  now,  as  we  advance,  how  the  sufferings  of  this 
prison  increased — how  every  thing  from  which  torture 
and  death  could  result  was  resorted  to — how  all  those 


238  ANDERSON  VILLE. 

methods  of  inhuman  punishment  instituted  by  the  pris 
oner  were  approved  and  sanctioned  by  General  Winder, 
and  that,  during  the  whole  period  of  his  command,  not  a 
single  act  is  recorded  which  does  not  prove  him  to  have 
been  not  only  "a  brutal  man,"  as  Mr.  Spencer  says  he 
was,  but  that  he  was  the  chief  instrument  in  the  hands 
of  a  wicked,  treasonable  conspiracy  to  murder  the  pris 
oners  of  war  in  his  custody.  He  came  there  with  author 
ity  unlimited,  with  discretion  to  do  whatever  circum 
stances  required  to  carry  out  the  purpose  of  his  com 
mand.  In  an  appeal  published  by  him  to  the  citizens  of 
the  surrounding  counties  (see  Exhibit  No.  29),  he  calls 
for  "  two  thousand  negroes,  properly  supplied  with  axes, 
spades,  and  picks,  and  supported  by  the  requisite  num 
ber  of  wagons  and  teams,"  for  the  purpose  of  rendering 
more  hopeless  the  imprisonment  of  our  soldiers,  holding 
over  the  people  of  that  vicinity  the  terrors  of  impress 
ment,  which,  in  this  appeal,  he  claims  to  have  authority 
to  make.  Yet,  with  all  this  power,  with  all  these  appli 
ances  at  hand,  and  within  reach  of  his  call,  not  a  single 
shelter  did  he  ever  erect — not  a  ditch  did  he  dig  to  drain 
that  horrible  cesspool  below  the  stockade  and  within  it — 
not  a  tithe  of  the  wood  absolutely  necessary  did  he  cause 
to  be  taken  into  the  stockade — not  once  did  he  visit  that 
place  over  which  he  had  supreme  control — not  a  well  did 
he  cause  to  be  dug  within  it — not  one  order  did  he  issue 
to  abate  one  jot  or  tittle  of  the  frightful  rigors  of  that 
prison-pen — not  a  kindly  or  humane  sentiment  is  he 
shown,  during  that  whole  time,  to  have  uttered  toward 
these  prisoners  in  his  custody.  On  the  contrary,  he  scat 
tered  to  the  four  winds,  as  we  have  seen,  that  immense 


ANDERSONVILLE.  239 

pile  of  lumber  accumulated  by  Colonel  Persons  for  the 
purpose  of  erecting  shelters  in  the  stockade ;  he  approved 
all  that  had  been  done  by  his  subordinate,  the  prisoner, 
even  recommending  him  for  promotion ;  he  legalized  the 
detail  of  Turner,  who  was  a  Confederate  soldier,  to  take 
command  of  a  pack  of  hounds  to  run  down  prisoners, 
and  afterward  permanently  detached  him  from  his  regi 
ment  for  that  purpose ;  he  authorized  and  ordered  the 
hanging  of  six  prisoners  of  war  within  the  stockade, 
which,  by  all  the  laws  of  war,  was  no  more  nor  less  than 
murder,  so  far  as  he  was  concerned ;  he  brutally  refused 
the  philanthropic  ladies  of  Americus  twice  in  their  at 
tempts  to  render  assistance  to  the  sick  at  the  hospital, 
even  intimating  on  one  of  those  occasions  to  those  ladies 
of  the  highest  respectability  that  a  repetition  of  their  hu 
mane  efforts  would  bring  upon  them  a  punishment  too 
infamous  to  be  named.  Is  it  still  contended  that  there 
was  no  conspiracy;  that  these  things  evinced  no  com 
mon  design  to  destroy ;  that  of  all  these  things  the  Eich- 
mond  government  was  in  blissful  ignorance  ?  Let  us  see. 
On  the  21st  of  July,  186-1,  General  Winder  addressed  a 
letter  to  the  War  Department  at  Richmond  (see  Exhibit 
No.  17),  dated  Andersonville,  in  which  he  uses  the  fol 
lowing  language,  before  quoted :  "  You  speak  in  your 
indorsement  of  placing  the  prisoners  properly.  I  do  not 
exactly  comprehend  what  is  intended  by  it.  I  know 
of  but  one  way  to^place  them,  and  that  is  to  putjthem 
into  the  stockade,  w-here  they -hav-e  four  or  five  square 
yards  .to.  ihs-man." 

Is  it  possible  that  he  did  not  comprehend  what  was 
intended  by  the  War  Department?     Can  it  be  that  he 


240  ANDEESONVILLE. 

knew  of  but  one  way  to  place  those  prisoners  prop 
erly? 

His  government  did  not  dare  to  speak  more  definitely, 
nor  was  it  necessary  to  such  a  man  as  General  Winder, 
occupying  the  position  he  did,  and  with  the  letter  of 
"Robert  Ould  in  his  private  desk,  written  as  early  as 
March,  1863 — a  private  letter  written  by  himself,  and  in 
dorsed  by  his  own  hand.  The  one  way  was  the  way 
given  by  his  original  instructions;  it  was  the  way  un 
derstood  by  W.  S.  Winder  when  he  said  it  was  the  inten 
tion  to  kill  more  Yankees  at  Andersonville  than  they  did 
at  the  front ;  it  was  the  way  meant  and  well  understood 
by  General  Winder  when  he  said  to  Mr.  Spencer  that,  for 
his  own  part,  he  would  as  lief  the  damned  Yankees 
would  die  there  as  any  where  else ;  that,  upon  the  whole, 
he  did  not  know  that  it  was  not  better  for  them  (Record, 
p.  2467),  and  which  he  afterward  disclosed  to  Colonel 
Chandler  in  the  remark,  "  It  is  better  to  leave  them  in 
their  present  condition  until  their  number  has  been  suffi 
ciently  reduced  by  death  to  make  the  present  arrange 
ments  suffice  for  their  accommodation ;"  it  was  the  way 
well  understood  by  the  rebel  government  when,  in  the 
teeth  of  the  protests  of  humane  officers,  and  in  the  face 
of  the  official  reports  of  the  mortality  of  that  place,  they 
continued  to  forward  prisoners  train-load  after  train-load 
to  an  already  overcrowded  prison ;  it  was  the  way  dic 
tated  to  the  agent  of  that  government,  Eobert  Ould,  and 
revealed  by  him  in  his  letter  to  Winder  (see  Exhibit  No. 
— ),  when  he  declares,  speaking  of  exchanges,  "  Tlie  ar 
rangement  I  have  made  works  largely  in  our  favor;  we  get 
rid  of  a  set  of  miserable  wretches,  and  receive  in  return  some 


ANDERSONVILLE.  241 

of  the  best  material  I  ever  saw  ;"  adding,  "  This,  of  course,  is 
between  ourselves" 

It  was  the  way  understood  perfectly  by  General  Howell 
Cobb  when,  in  a  speech  at  Andersonville,  he  pointed  with 
terrible  significance  to  the  grave-yard,  remarking,  "  That 
is  the  way  I  would  care  for  them." 

It  was  the  way  well  understood  by  the  prisoner  at  the 
bar,  who  is  shown  to  have  uttered  sentiments  similar  to 
those  expressed  by  W.S.  Winder  on  more  than  one  hund 
red  occasions ;  it  was  the  way,  and  the  only  way,  ever 
indicated  by  the  chief  of  the  rebel  government  and  his 
Secretary  of  War,  else  why  did  he,  with  this  frightful  pic 
ture  before  him,  deliberately  fold  General  Winder's  letter, 
indorsing  it  "  Noted— file.  J.  A.  S.  ?" 

Let  us  advance  another  step  in  the  evidence  connect 
ing  the  Richmond  government  with  these  atrocities. 
Colonel  D.  T.  Chandler,  of  the  rebel  War  Department, 
pursuant  to  an  order  of  his  chief  of  July  25th,  186-1,  di 
recting  him  to  make  an  inspection  at  Andersonville  and 
other  places  in  the  Confederacy,  submitted  a  report  dated 
Andersonville,  August  5th,  1864,  and  which  reached  the 
War  Department  August  17th,  1864.  This  officer,  from 
whose  report  we  have  already  quoted,  gives  a  graphic 
description  of  the  sufferings  of  the  prisoners  of  war,  and 
in  earnest  terms  beseeches  his  government  that  no  more 
be  sent  forward  to  that  place,  and  that  immediate  steps 
be  taken  to  relieve  the  sufferings  of  those  prisoners  al 
ready  there,  making  many  practical  suggestions  for  their 
comfort  which  he  thought  could  be  readily  carried  out. 
In  a  supplemental  report,  also  dated  August  5th,  and 
which  was  received  with  the  report  first  named,  he  says, 

L 


242  ANDEKSONVILLE. 

"  My  duty  requires  me  respectfully  to  recommend  a 
change  in  the  officer  in  command  of  the  post,  Brigadier 
General  John  II.  Winder,  and  the  substitution  in  his 
place  of  some  one  who  unites  both  energy  and  good 
judgment  with  some  feelings  of  humanity  and  consider 
ation  for  the  welfare  and  comfort  (so  far  as  is  consistent 
with  their  safe-keeping)  of  the  vast  number  of  unfortu 
nates  placed  under  his  control  —  some  one,  at  least,  who 
does  not  advocate,  deliberately  and  in  cold  blood,  the  pro 
priety  of  leaving  them  in  their  present  condition  until 
their  number  has  been  sufficiently  reduced  by  death  to 
make  the  present  arrangements  suffice  for  their  accom 
modation,  and  who  will  not  consider  it  a  matter  of  self- 
laudation  and  boasting  that  he  has  never  been  inside  the 
stockade  —  a  place  the  horrors  of  which  it  is  difficult  to 
describe,  and  which  are  a  disgrace  to  civilization  —  the 
condition  of  which  he  might,  by  the  exercise  of  a  little 
energy  and  judgment,  even  with  the  limited  means  at  his 
command,  have  considerably  improved." 

In  his  examination  touching  this  report,  Colonel  Chand 
ler  says,  "  I  noticed  that  General  Winder  seemed  very 
indifferent  to  the  welfare  of  the  prisoners,  indisposed  to 
do  any  thing,  or  to  do  as  much  as  I  thought  he  ought  to 
do  to  alleviate  their  sufferings.  I  remonstrated  with  him 
as  well  as  I  could,  and  he  used  that  language  which  I  re 
ported  to  the  department  with  reference  to  it- — the  lan 
guage  stated  in  the  report  when  I  spoke  of  the  great 
mortality  existing  among  the  prisoners,  and  pointed  out 
to  him  that  the  sickly  season  was  coming  on,  and  that  it 
must  necessarily  increase  unless  something  was  done  for 
their  relief;  the  swamp,  for  instance,  drained,  proper  food 


ANDEESONVILLE.  243 

famished  and  in  better  quantity,  and  other  sanitary  sug 
gestions  which  I  made  to  him.  lie  replied  to  me  that  it 
was  better  to  see  half  of  them  die  than  to  take  care  of 
the  men." 

And  to  show  that  he  can  not  be  mistaken  in  what  he 
avers,  Colonel  Chandler  speaks  of  Major  Hall,  his  assist 
ant,  having  first  reported  to  him  similar  language  used 
by  General  Winder  to  him,  and  remarks,  "I  told  Major 
Ilall  that  I  thought  it  incredible — that  he  must  be  mis 
taken  ;  he  told  me  no ;  '  that  he  had  not  only  said  it  once, 
but  twice ;'  and,  as  I  have  stated,  he  subsequently  made 
use  of  this  expression  to  me." 

Xow  let  us  see  what  the  rebel  government  had  to  do 
with  this  report.  As  I  before  remarked,  it  reached  llicli- 
mond  on  the  17th  day  of  August.  Immediately  on  its 
reception,  as  we  learn  from  Captain  C.  M.  Selph,  of  the 
rebel  War  Department,  it  was  carefully  briefed,  and  ex 
tracts  made  and  sent  to  the  heads  of  the  different  bu 
reaus,  the  commissary  general  and  the  quarter -master 
general ;  a  report  of  Dr.  White,  an  inclosure  of  Colonel 
Chandler's  report,  being  sent  to  the  surgeon  general. 
The  entire  report  was  then  laid  before  the  Secretary  of 
War,  Mr.  Seddon,  and,  there  can  not  be  the  shadow  of  a 
doubt,  was  immediately,  and  fully,  and  seriously  consid 
ered  ;  nor  can  there  be  any  doubt  that  Mr.  Davis  and  his 
war  minister  conferred  together  with  regard  to  this  sub 
ject. 

Captain  Selph,  speaking  of  a  conversation  between 
himself  and  Colonel  Woods,  a  staff  officer  of  Jefferson 
Davis,  in  regard  to  the  prison  at  Andersonville,  says, 
"During  that  conversation  I  obtained  that  impression 


2-M  ANDERSONVILLE. 

that  President  Davis  had  some  knowledge  of  it"  (Record, 
p.  1565).  "  This,"  he  says  again,  "  was  subsequent  to  the 
receipt  of  Colonel  Chandler's  report."  To  the  question, 
"  Would  a  paper  of  this  kind,  on  a  subject  of  this  magni 
tude,  find  its  way  to  the  President  of  the  so-called  Con 
federate  States  in  the  ordinary  way  of  proceedings?"  he 
answered, "  Yes,  sir,  I  think  it  would." 

It  will  not  do  to  say  that  this  report  was  buried  among 
the  multitude  of  papers  that  arrived  daily  in  the  War 
Office,  or  that  it  lay  upon  Mr.  Seddon's  table  unnoticed. 

Mr.  J.  B.  Jones,  private  secretary  of  Mr.  Seddon,  says 
(Record,  p.  2836)  that  he  remembers  when  the  report 
was  received,  but  only  read  the  headings,  enough  to  see 
the  purport  of  it,  and  adds  that  he  thinks  it  was  sent  for 
by  the  Secretary  of  War. 

Mr.  K.  I.  H.  McKean,  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  War,  says 
that  he  saw  it  lying  on  the  secretary's  table.  He  also 
speaks  of  a  conversation  between  himself  and  the  assist 
ant  secretary  of  war,  Judge  Campbell,  and  in  which  the 
report  was  spoken  of,  and  in  which  Judge  Campbell, 
speaking  of  the  fearful  mortality,  remarked,  "This  looks 
very  bad."  Captain  Selph  also  testifies  that  the  report 
excited  general  excitement  in  the  department. 

But  we  are  not  left  with  this  evidence  alone.  This 
report  was  not  sent  in  like  ordinary  inspection  reports, 
but  especial  attention  was  drawn  to  it  by  three  officials. 
On  the  day  of  its  receipt  it  was  submitted  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  War,  as  the  following  indorsement  proves  beyond 
all  doubt : 


ANDERSONVILLE.  245 

"Adjutant  and  Inspector  General's  Office,  i 
August  18th,  1864.  $ 

"  Eespcctfully  submitted  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  The 
condition  of  the  prison  at  Andersonville  is  a  reproach  to 
us  as  a  nation.  The  Engineer  and  Ordnance  Department 
were  applied  to,  and  authorized  their  issue,  and  I  so  tele 
graphed  General  Winder.  Colonel  Chandler's  recom 
mendations  are  coincided  in. 

"  (Signed)  By  order  of  GENERAL  COOPER. 

"  E.  E.  CHILTON,  A.  A.  and  I.  G." 

The  report  passed  through  the  hands  of  B.  B.  Wellford, 
a  confidential  clerk  employed  in  the  War  Department  for 
his  legal  abilities,  who  also  made  a  brief  analysis  strong 
ly  seconding  Colonel  Chilton,  Mr.  Wellford's  analysis  be- 
in  £  again  indorsed,  and  the  whole  laid  before  the  sec- 

o      o  / 

retary  by  J.  A.  Campbell,  Assistant  Secretary  of  War, 
with  the  following  indorsement : 

"These  reports  show  a  condition  of  things  at  Ander 
sonville  which  call  very  loudly  for  the  interposition  of 
the  department,  in  order  that  a  change  be  made. 

"  (Signed)        J.  A.  CAMPBELL,  Ass.  Sec.  of  War." 

What  more  could  have  been  needed,  or  what  more 
done,  to  bring  authoritatively  and  strongly  before  the 
proper  authorities  at  Kichmond  the  subject  of  the  An 
dersonville  sufferings  ?  Here  were  an  intelligent  inspect 
ing  officer  of  high  rank,  Colonel  Chandler ;  the  chief  of 
the  inspecting  bureau,  Colonel  Chilton;  the  chief  of  the 
bureau  of  war,  McKean ;  a  confidential  clerk,  Mr.  Well- 
ford  ;  and  the  assistant  secretary  of  war,  Judge  Camp- 


246  ANDERSONVILLE. 

bell,  all  pressing  in  the  strongest  terms  the  necessity  of 
an  immediate  interposition  by  the  department,  and  not 
hesitating  to  declare  the  prison  at  Andersonville  "  a  re 
proach  to  them  as  a  nation."  These  appeals  might  have 
moved  hearts  of  stone ;  but,  addressed  as  they  were  to 
these  representatives  of  a  government  based  upon  wrong 
and  injustice,  that  had  its  origin  in  a  treasonable  conspir 
acy  to  overthrow  the  best  government  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  however  much  they  may  have  moved  the  hearts 
of  those  representatives  as  individuals,  they  seem  to  have 
still  felt  it  their  duty  to  adhere  to  a  purpose  so  cruelly 
and  wickedly  begun,  and  thus  far  so  faithfully  carried 
out;  and  they  dared  not,  or  would  not  abandon,  even 
then,  this  atrocious  conspiracy. 

McKean  says  he  is  not  aware  the  report  was  ever  acted 
upon.  Captain  Selph  says  the  same ;  and  we  learn  from 
the  testimony  that  the  report  remained  with  the  secre 
tary,  never  having  come  back  to  the  Inspector  General's 
Department,  where  it  properly  belonged,  till  about  the 
time  Mr.  Breckinridge  succeeded  Mr.  Seddon,  some  time 
in  1865,  when  Colonel  Chandler  having  returned  and  de 
manded  that  some  action  should  be  taken  on  the  report, 
or  he  would  resign,  it  was  brought  to  light  and  laid  be 
fore  Mr.  Breckinridge,  who  would  have  acted  upon  it,  as 
Captain  Selph  thinks,  but  for  the  rapid  change  of  affairs 
in  the  Confederacy,  and  the  dissolution  of  their  govern 
ment  soon  after. 

And  here  let  us  diverge  a  moment,  and  follow  a  por 
tion  of  this  remarkable  report  to  the  Surgeon  General's 
Office.  We  find  indorsed  upon  Exhibit  No.  24  the  fol 
lowing  : 


ANDEESONVILLE.  247 

"  Surgeon  was  authorized  some  time  since  to  send  his 
requisitions  for  supplies  directly  to  the  medical  purvey 
ors.  Not  having  supplies  is  his  own  fault;  he  should 
have  anticipated  the  wants  of  the  sick  by  timely  requisi 
tions.  It  is  impossible  to  order  medical  officers  in  place 
of  the  contract  physicians.  They  are  not  to  be  had  at 
present.  S.  P.  MOORE,  Surgeon  General." 

• 

This  is  the  flippant  indorsement  of  the  surgeon  gen 
eral,  and  the  only  evidence  showing  his  notice  of  the 
condition  of  things  at  Andersonville,  and  that  is  all  that 
he  seems  to  have  done  in  the  matter  while  Dr.  White 
was  allowed  to  remain  in  charge  of  the  hospital,  which, 
as  described  by  the  surgeons  who  were  on  duty  with 
him,  seems  to  have  been  little  less  than  a  dead-house — 
this  Dr.  White,  whose  recklessness,  brutality,  and  crime 
are  so  closely  interwoven  with  that  of  General  Winder, 
the  prisoner  at  the  bar,  and  his  associate  staff  officers, 
that  it  is  hard  to  discriminate  between  the  cruelty  of  the 
one  and  that  of  the  others.  It  is  strange,  truly,  that  the 
surgeon  general  passed  over  this  matter  with  so  slight  a 
notice  of  it,  when  we  remember  that  several  weeks  pre 
viously  it  is  shown  that  he  had  the  whole  matter  before 
his  office,  and  took  action  upon  it,  which  makes  him  no 
less  culpable  than  the  others  we  have  mentioned.  lie 
had  called  into  his  counsels  an  eminent  medical  gentle 
man,  of  high  attainments  in  his  profession,  and  of  loyalty 
to  the  rebel  government  unquestionable.  Amid  all  the 
details  in  this  terrible  tragedy,  there  seems  to  me  none 
more  heartless,  wanton,  and  void  of  humanity  than  that 
revealed  by  the  surgeon  general  to  which  I  am  about  to 


248  ANDERSONVILLE. 

refer.  I  quote  now  from  the  report  of  this  same  Dr. 
Joseph  Jones,  which  he  says  (Record,  p.  4384)  was  made 
"in  the  interest  of  the  Confederate  government  for  the 
use  of  the  Medical  Department,  in  the  view  that  no  eye 
would  ever  see  it  but  that  of  the  surgeon  general." 

After  a  brief  introduction  to  his  report,  and  to  show 
under  what  authority  it  was  made,  he  quotes  a  letter  from 
the  surgeon  .general,  dated  "  Surgeon  General's  Office, 
Richmond,  Virginia,  August  6th,  1864."  The  letter  is 
addressed  to  Surgeon  J.  Ii.  White,  in  charge  of  the  hos 
pital  for  Federal  prisoners,  Andersonville,  Georgia,  and 
is  as  follows : 

"  SIR, — The  field  of  pathological  investigation  afforded 
by  the  large  collection  of  Federal  prisoners  in  Georgia  is 
of  great  extent  and  importance,  and  it  is  believed  that 
results  of  value  to  the  profession  may  be  obtained  by 
careful  examination  of  the  effects  of  disease  upon  a  large 
body  of  men  subjected  to  a  decided  change  of  climate 
and  the  circumstances  peculiar  to  prison  life.  The  sur 
geon  in  charge  of  the  hospital  for  Federal  prisoners,  to- 
L  gether  with  his  assistants,  will  afford  every  facility  to 
Surgeon  Joseph  Jones  in  the  prosecution  of  the  labors 
ordered  by  the  surgeon  general.  The  medical  officers 
will  assist  in  the  performance  of  such  post-mortems  as  Dr. 
Jones  may  indicate,  in  order  that  this  great  field  for  path 
ological  investigation  may  be  explored  for  the  benefit  of 
the  Medical  Department  of  the  Confederate  States  armies. 
"  S.  P.  MOORE,  Surgeon  General." 

Pursuant  to  his  orders,  Dr.  Jones,  as  he  tells  us,  pro- 


ANDERSONVILLE.  249 

ceeded  to  Andersonville,  and  on  September  17th  received 
the  following  pass : 

"Andersonville,  September  17,  1864. 

"  CAPTAIN, — You  will  permit  Surgeon  Joseph  Jones, 
who  has  orders  from  the  surgeon  general,  to  visit  the  sick 
within  the  stockade  that  are  under  medical  treatment. 
Surgeon  Jones  is  ordered  to  make  certain  investigations 
which  may  prove  useful  to  his  profession. 
"Very  respectfully. 

"  By  order  of  GENERAL  WINDER. 
"W.  S.  WINDER,  A.  A.  G-. 

"Captain  II.  Wirz,  Commanding  Prison." 

When  we  remember  that  the  surgeon  general  had  been 
apprised  of  the  wants  of  that  prison,  and  that  he  had 
overlooked  the  real  necessities  of  the  prison,  shifting  the 
responsibility  upon  Dr.  White,  whom  he  must  have 
known  was  totally  incompetent,  it  is  hard  to  conceive 
with  what  devilish  malice,  or  criminal  devotion  to  his 
profession,  or  reckless  disregard  of  the  high  duties  im 
posed  upon  him — I  scarcely  know  which — he  could  sit 
down  and  deliberately  pen  such  a  letter  of  instructions 
as  that  given  to  Dr.  Jones.  Was  it  not  enough  to  have 
cruelly  starved  and  murdered  our  soldiers  ?  Was  it  not 
enough  to  have  sought  to  wipe  out  their  very  memories 
by  burying  them  in  nameless  graves  ?  Was  it  not  enough 
to  have  instituted  a  system  of  medical  treatment  the  very 
embodiment  of  charlatanism  ?  Was  not  this  enough,  with 
out  adding  to  the  many  other  diabolical  motives  which 
must  have  governed  the  perpetrators  of  these  acts  this 
scientific  object,  as  deliberate  and  cold-blooded  as  one 

L2 


250  ANDERSONVILLE. 

can  conceive  ?  The  surgeon  general  could  quiet  his  con 
science,  when  the  matter  was  laid  before  him  through 
Colonel  Chandler,  by  indorsing  that  it  was  impossible  to 
send  medical  officers  to  take  the  places  of  the  contract 
physicians  on  duty  at  Andersonville,  yet  he  could  select 
at  the  same  time  a  distinguished  gentleman  of  the  med 
ical  profession,  and  send  him  to  Andersonville,  directing 
the  whole  force  of  surgeons  there  to  render  him  every 
assistance,  leaving  their  multiplied  duties  for  that  pur 
pose.  Why  ?  not  to  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  the  pris 
oners  ;  not  to  convey  to  them  one  ounce  more  of  nutri 
tious  food  ;  to  make  no  suggestions  for  the  improvement 
of  their  sanitary  condition — for  no  purpose  of  this  kind, 
but,  as  the  letter  of  instruction  itself  shows,  for  no  other 
purpose  than  "that  this  great  field  of  pathological  inves 
tigation  may  be  explored  for  the  benefit  of  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  Confederate  armies !" 

The  Andersonville  Prison,  so  far  as  the  surgeon  gen 
eral  was  concerned,  was  a  mere  dissecting-room,  a  clinic 
institute,  to  be  made  tributary  to  the  Medical  Department 
of  the  Confederate  armies. 

But  let  me  return  from  this  digression.  One  can  hard 
ly  believe  all  these  things  of  a  government  pretending  to 
struggle  for  a  place  among  civilized  nations,  yet,  horrible 
as  it  seems,  the  facts  can  not  be  resisted. 

Do  I  do  injustice  to  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion  ?  Have 
I  drawn  inferences  that  are  unwarrantable  ?  Is  it  indeed 
true  that  these  men,  high  in  authority,  are  not  responsi 
ble  ?  I  think  not.  Motives  are  presumed  from  actions, 
and  actions  are  louder  than  words.  "What  was  the  action 
of  Mr.  Davis  and  his  war  minister  upon  these  reports  ? 


ANDERSONVILLE.  251 

The  papers  were  pigeon-holed  in  the  secretary's  office, 
not  even  being  dignified  by  being  placed  upon  the  regu 
lar  files  in  the  proper  offices,  while  General  Winder,  the 
chief  accomplice,  instead  of  being  removed  immediately 
and  broken  of  his  commission,  and  tried  for  a  violation 
of  the  laws  of  war,  for  cruelty,  inhumanity,  and  murder 
— instead  of  being  held  up  by  that  government  as  a  warn 
ing  to  others,  giving  a  coloring  of  justice  to  their  cause, 
was  promoted,  rewarded,  and  given  a  command  of  a 
wider  scope  and  greater  power,  but  still  in  a  position  to 
carry  out  the  purposes  of  his  government  toward  pris 
oners  of  war.  History  is  full  of  examples  similar  in 
character,  where  a  government,  carrying  out  its  ends,  has 
selected  as  tools  men  not  unlike  General  Winder,  and 
history,  faithful  in  the  narrative  of  the  facts,  is  faithful 
also  in  fixing  upon  the  government  who  employed  such 
persons,  and  sustained  and  rewarded  them,  the  responsi 
bility  for  the  acts  of  their  agents.  James  II.  had  his 
Jeffreys;  Philip  II.  his  Duke  of  Alva;  Louis  XIY.  his 
Duke  de  Louvois;  the  Emperor  of  Austria  his  Ilaynau; 
and  Jefferson  Davis  his  Winder. 

The  closest  scrutiny  of  the  immense  record  of  this  trial 
will  show  that,  up  to  the  very  close  of  that  prison,  there 
were  no  steps  taken  by  the  rebel  government,  by  Gener 
al  Winder,  or  by  any  of  the  officers  of  his  staff  clothed 
with  proper  authority,  to  alleviate  in  any  material  partic 
ular  the  great  sufferings  of  that  place.  You  will  remem 
ber  the  uniform  testimony  of  the  medical  officers,  as  well 
as  of  the  prisoners  who  remained  there  during  the  winter 
of  1864-5,  that  there  was  no  perceptible  change  in  the 
condition  of  the  prison,  and  an  examination  of  the  hos- 


252  ANDERSONVILLE. 

pital  register  will  show  that  the  mortality  even  was  great 
er  during  that  period,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
prisoners  confined,  than  it  was  during  the  months  of  its 
most  crowded  condition.  From  the  prison  journal,  kept 
by  the  prisoner  himself,  we  find  that  in  September,  the 
mean  number  of  prisoners  being  seventeen  thousand,  the 
deaths  were  two  thousand  seven  hundred;  in  October, 
the  mean  strength  being  about  six  thousand  seven  hund 
red,  the  number  of  deaths  was  one  thousand  five  hundred 
and  sixty — nearly  one  out  of  every  five ;  in  November, 
the  mean  strength  being  two  thousand  three  hundred,  the 
deaths  were  four  hundred  and  eighty -five ;  while  those 
who  remained  to  the  very  close  —  till  the  prison  was 
broken  up,  are  described  by  General  Wilson  and  others 
as  having  been  "mere  skeletons"  —  "shadows  of  men." 
Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  the  marks  of  this  cruelty 
were  so  indelibly  stamped  upon  its  victims,  that  thou 
sands  who  survived  are  yet  cripples,  and  will  carry  to 
their  graves  the  evidence  of  the  horrible  treatment  to 
which  they  were  subjected.  The  surgeons  of  our  army 
who  treated  these  shadows  of  men  when  they  arrived 
within  our  lines  at  Jacksonville  and  Hilton  Head  tell  you 
of  hundreds  who  died  before  they  could  be  resuscitated  ; 
of  others  permanently  disabled ;  of  others,  on  their  par 
tial  recovery,  being  started  upon  their  way  homeward, 
and  being  treated  again  at  Annapolis. 

Dr.  Yanderkieft,  of  our  army,  speaks  of  the  condition 
of  those  prisoners  while  under  his  treatment  at  that  place. 
He  says:  "They  were  reduced,  suffering  from  chronic  di 
arrhoea  and  scurvy  ;  some  of  them  in  a  dying  condition  ; 
some  of  them  died  a  few  days  after  they  arrived,  and 


ANDERSONVILLE.  253 

those  who  did  recover  were  obliged  to  remain  a  long 
time  in  hospital  before  they  were  able  to  return  to  their 
homes"  (Eecord,  p.  505). 

And  with  that  certainty  with  which  science  reasons 
from  effect  to  cause,  oftentimes  after  describing  the  con 
dition  of  the  men,  as  it  has  been  brought  out  in  this  tes 
timony,  he  concludes,  "  The  symptoms  and  condition  of 
the  patients  presented  cases  of  starvation." 

Nor  must  it  be  forgotten,  in  the  summing  up  of  the  cu 
mulative  proof  of  the  Andersonville  horrors,  that  numer 
ous  photographs  of  returned  prisoners  were  introduced 
here,  and  identified  by  Drs.  Yanderkieft,  Balser,  and  oth 
ers,  as  representing  cases  no  worse  than  hundreds  and 
thousands  they  had  seen.  So  impressive,  indeed,  and  so 
strong  seemed  this  evidence  of  rebel  cruelty,  that  the 
counsel  for  the  prisoner  sought  in  his  cross-examination 
to  show  that  they  were  fancy  sketches.  Are  we  told 
that  these  were  improbable,  and  can  not  be  believed,  be 
cause  it  is  said  Mr.  Davis  is  a  good  man — not  capable  of 
such  cruelty?  Are  we  told  that  no  direct  order  of  his  is 
shown,  and  therefore,  notwithstanding  all  these  facts  and 
circumstances  narrated,  he  must  be  acquitted  of  all  blame? 
The  law  governing  cases  of  conspiracy  does  not  require 
us  to  show  a  direct  order;  circumstances  from  which 
guilt  may  be  inferred  are  sufficient.  The  rebel  chief  did 
not  find  it  necessary  to  issue  direct  instructions,  nor,  in 
deed,  could  it  reasonably  be  expected.  He  was  too  wary, 
too  sagacious  for  that. 

Michelet  relates  an  anecdote  of  Louis  XY.  not  mala 
propos.  "  The  illustrious  Quesnay,  physician  to  Louis 
XY.,  who  lived  in  the  house  of  the  latter  at  Yersailles, 


254:  ANDERSONVILLE. 

saw  the  king  one  day  rush  in  suddenly,  and  felt  alarmed. 
Madame  Du  Haurret,  the  witty  femme  -  de  -  chambre,  in 
quired  of  him  why  he  seemed  so  uneasy.  *  Madame,'  re 
turned  he, '  whenever  I  see  the  king,  I  say  to  myself  there 
is  a  man  who  can  cut  my  head  off.'  'Oh,'  said  she,  'he  is 
too  good.111  The  ladies'  maid  thus  summed  up  in  one 
word  the  guarantees  of  monarchy.  The  king  was  too 
good  to  cut  a  man's  head  off;  "  that  was  no  longer  agree 
able  to  custom ;  but  he  could  with  one  word  send  him  to 
the  Bastile,  and  there  forget  him.  It  remains  to  be  seen 
whether  it  is  better  to  perish  with  one  blow,  or  to  suffer 
a  lingering  death  for  thirty  or  forty  years." 

Mr.  Davis  was  not  capable  of  being  the  instrument  of 
death ;  he  was  too  good  to  be  the  keeper  of  a  prison,  and 
withhold  from  starving  men  their  scanty  rations,  but  he 
could  send  them  out  of  his  sight,  away  from  the  prison 
in  plain  view  of  his  residence,  into  the  dense  forests  of 
Georgia,  and  there  forget  them.  If  Jefferson  Davis  be 
ever  brought  to  trial  for  his  many  crimes  —  and  may 
Heaven  spare  the  temple  of  justice  if  he  is  not  —  it  will 
not  do  for  him  to  upbraid  and  accuse  his  willing  tools, 
Winder  and  Wirz,  as  King  John  did  Hubert  for  the  death 
of  Prince  Arthur;  they  will  turn  upon  him  and  say, 

"  Here  is  your  hand  and  seal  for  all  I  did, 
And  in  the  winking  of  authority 
Did  we  understand  a  law." 

Before  advancing  farther  in  the  argument,  let  me  de 
fine  briefly  the  laws  of  war,  which,  it  is  alleged  by  the 
government  in  its  indictment  against  this  prisoner  and 
his  co-conspirators,  have  been  inhumanly  and  atrociously 
violated.  One  would  suppose  that  an  enlightened  con- 


ANDERSONVILLE.  255 

science  would  not  consult  the  opinions  of  writers  upon 
laws  or  ethics  to  determine  the  violation  of  rules  govern 
ing  civilized  warfare  with  sufficient  certainty  to  con 
demn  the  treatment  of  prisoners  at  Anderson ville ;  yet,  as 
the  averment  is  traversed  by  the  prisoner,  and  it  is  insist 
ed  that  no  violation  of  the  humane  principles  governing 
nations  in  war  is  shown,  I  must  trespass  upon  the  court 
a  moment  before  proceeding.  In  the  forum  of  nations 
there  is  a  higher  law — a  law  paramount  to  any  rule  of 
action  prescribed  by  either  of  them,  and  which  can  not 
be  abrogated  or  nullified  by  either.  Whatever  the  pe 
culiar  forms  or  rights  of  this  or  that  government,  its  sub 
jects  require  no  control  or  power  other  than  is  sanction 
ed  by  the  great  tribunal  of  nations.  We  turn,  then,  to 
the  code  international,  where  the  purest  morals,  the  high 
est  sense  of  justice,  the  most  exalted  principles  of  ethics, 
are  the  corner-stones,  that  we  may  learn  to  be  guided  in 
our  duty  to  this  prisoner. 

Grotius  derived  the  jus  gentium  from  the  practice  of 
nations ;  and,  living  in  an  age  when  the  greatest  cruelties 
were  practiced  in  the  operations  of  warfare,  his  rules,  as 
laid  down,  often  seem  to  have  been  the  inspiration  of 
barbarity  itself  rather  than  law  which  should  govern 
nations ;  yet  even  he,  in  Books  three  and  four,  insists 
that  all  acts  of  violence,  which  have  no  tendency  to  ob 
tain  justice  or  determinate  the  war,  are  at  variance  both 
with  the  duty  of  the  Christian  and  with  humanity  it 
self. 

Manning,  an  author  of  great  force  and  clearness,  says, 
(p.  164),  "  At  the  present  day  a  mild  and  humane  treat 
ment  exists  with  regard  to  prisoners  of  war,  which  is, 


256  ANDERSONVILLE. 

perhaps,  in  some  degree,  attributable  to  the  deference 
paid  to  the  writing  of  Yattel,  who  appears  to  have  been 
the  first  author  who  established  the  true  principle  upon 
which  prisoners  should  be  treated.  He  says  that  'as 
soon  as  your  enemy  has  laid  down  his  arms  and  surren 
dered  his  person,  you  have  no  longer  any  right  over  his 
life,  unless  he  should  give  you  such  right  by  some  new 
attempt,  or  had  before  committed  against  you  a  crime  de 
serving  death.'  '  Prisoners  of  war,7  he  says, '  may  be  se 
cured,  but  can  not  be  made  slaves  unless  for  personal 
guilt  which  deserves  death ;  nor  slain,  unless  we  be  per 
fectly  assured  that  our  safety  demands  such  a  sacrifice.'  " 

After  having  discussed  at  some  length  this  subject,  he 
sums  up  the  whole  question  thus  (p.  165) : 

"It  may  be  remarked,  in  conclusion,  that  the  same 
principles  which  have  been  appealed  to  in  the  preceding 
chapter  afford  also  a  clew  to  the  right  treatment  of  pris 
oners  of  war.  The  usages  of  former  ages  proceeded  upon 
the  supposition  that  any  violence  was  allowed  in  warfare, 
and  that  the  right  of  the  victor  upon  the  vanquished 
was  unlimited ;  and  that,  having  the  right  to  deprive  his 
antagonist  of  life,  the  captor  had  a  right  to  impose  any 
treatment  more  lenient  than  death  upon  his  prisoner. 
But  we  have  seen  that,  so  far  from  the  rights  of  the  bel 
ligerent  being  unlimited,  the  law  of  nature  strictly  limits 
them  to  such  violence  as  is  necessary ;  that  thus,  when  an 
antagonist  no  longer  resists,  there  can  be  no  longer  any 
right  to  use  violence  toward  him,  and  that  whenever 
purposes  of  warfare  are  not  frustrated  by  the  granting  of 
quarter,  the  belligerent  can  not  refuse  to  give  quarter 
without  a  direct  violation  of  the  law  of  nations,  which 


ANDERSONVILLE.  257 

warrant  no  farther  hardship  toward  prisoners  than  is  re 
quired  by  the  purpose  of  safe  custody  and  security." 

Another  author  remarks :  "  Prisoners  of  war  are  in 
deed  sometimes  killed ;  but  this  is  not  otherwise  justifi 
able  than  as  it  is  made  necessary  either  by  themselves,  if 
they  make  use  of  force  against  those  who  have  taken 
them,  or  by  others  who  make  use  of  force  in  their  behalf, 
and  render  it  impossible  to  keep  them  ;  and  as  we  may 
collect  from  the  reason  of  the  thing,  so  it  likewise  ap 
pears  from  common  opinion,  that  nothing  but  the  stron 
gest  necessity  will  justify  such  an  act,  for  the  civilized 
and  thinking  part  of  mankind  will  hardly  be  persuaded 
not  to  condemn  it  till  they  see  the  absolute  necessity  of 
it"  (Rutherford's  Institutes,  p.  525). 

Kent,  in  speaking  of  the  barbarous  usages  of  war, 
kicked  and  done  away  with  by  the  progress  of  civiliza 
tion,  says : 

"Public  opinion,  as  it  becomes  enlightened  and  refined, 
condemns  all  cruelty,  and  all  wanton  destruction  of  life 
and  property,  as  equally  useless  and  injurious,  and  it  con 
trols  the  violence  of  war  by  the  energy  and  severity  of 
its  approaches.  Grotius,"  he  says,  "  even  in  opposition 
to  many  of  his  own  authorities,  and  under  a  due  sense 
of  the  obligations  of  religion  and  humanity,  placed  bounds 
to  the  ravages  of  war,  and  mentioned  that  many  things 
were  not  fit  and  commendable  though  they  might  be 
strictly  lawful,  and  that  the  law  of  nature  forbade  what 
the  law  of  nations  (meaning  thereby  the  practices  of  na 
tions)  tolerated.  Montesquieu,"  he  says,  "insisted  that 
the  laws  of  war  give  no  other  power  over  a  captive  than 
to  keep  him  safely,  and  that  all  unnecessary  rigor  is 


258  ANDERSONVILLE. 

condemned  by  the  reason  and  conscience  of  mankind. 
Vattel,"  he  says,  "  has  entered  largely  into  the  subject, 
and  he  argues,  with  great  strength,  and  reason,  and  elo 
quence  against  all  unnecessary  cruelty,  all  base  revenge, 
and  all  mean  and  perfidious  warfare;  and  he  recom 
mends  his  benevolent  doctrine  by  the  principles  of  ex 
alted  ethics  and  sound  policy,  and  by  illustrations  drawn 
from  the  most  pathetic  and  illustrious  examples." 

To  the  same  effect  writes  Wheaton  (p.  586)  and  Hal- 
leek  (p.  425  et  sequitur). 

So  strongly  did  the  principles  here  laid  down  impress 
themselves  upon  our  government,  that,  during  General 
Jackson's  administration,  Mr.  Livingston,  then  Secretary 
of  State,  instructed  Mr.  Buchanan,  our  minister  in  Eussia, 
to  insert  in  the  treaty  proposed  to  be  negotiated  stipu 
lations,  "  in  order  to  restrain  citizens  or  subjects  of  the 
one  or  the  other  of  the  high  contracting  parties  respect 
ively  from  infringing  any  of  the  known  rules  of  modern 
warfare;"  and,  among  other  things,  mentions,  "for  inju 
ries  offered  to  the  bearers  of  flags  of  truce ;  for  the  mas 
sacre  of  prisoners  who  have  surrendered  ;  for  the  mutila 
tion  of  the  dead ;  for  other  breaches  either  of  this  treaty 
or  of  the  laws  of  nations ;  for  preserving  peace  or  lessen 
ing  the  evils  of  war." 

The  object  of  this,  Mr.  Livingston  said,  was  "  to  ex 
press  a  national  reprobation  of  the  doctrine  which  con 
siders  a  state  of  war  as  one  .of  declared  hostilities  between 
every  individual  of  the  belligerent  nations  respectively. 
....  To  massacre  an  unresisting  and  unarmed  enemy, 
to  poison  his  provisions  and  water,  to  assassinate  a  pris 
oner,  and  other  similar  acts,  are  universally  acknowledged 


ANDERSONVILLE.  259 

to  be  breaches  of  international  law,  and  to  justify  retali 
ation  and  an  increase  of  the  horrors  of  war"  (Ex.  Doc., 
No.  Ill,  1st  Sess.  33d  Congress,  II.  Rep.). 

It  would  seem  that  these  teachings,  so  long  recognized, 
so  long  practiced  by  civilized  nations,  ought  to  have 
found  some  advocate  even  among  the  councils  of  trea 
son.  Whatever  the  form  of  government  may  have  been 
to  which  the  leaders  of  the  Confederacy  so-called  aspired, 
whatever  of  wrong  and  injustice  they  sought  to  embody 
in  their  system,  with  whatever  of  oppression  and  tyran 
ny  they  might  grind  down  their  subjects,  the  moment 
they  asked  a  place  among  nations  they  were  bound  to 
recognize  and  obey  those  laws  international,  which  are, 
and  of  necessity  must  be,  applicable  alike  to  all.  With 
what  detestation,  then,  must  civilized  nations  regard  that 
government  whose  conduct  has  been  such  as  characterized 
this  pretended  Confederacy?  An  ordinary  comprehen 
sion  of  natural  right,  the  faintest  desire  to  act  on  princi 
ples  of  common  justice,  would  have  dictated  some  hu 
mane  action,  would  have  extorted  from  some  official  a 
recognition  of  international  rules  of  conduct. 

It  was  not  retaliation,  for  they  had  the  example  of  our 
government  in  sending  to  their  homes  on  parole  whole 
armies  that  had  been  captured ;  it  was  not  punishment, 
for  these  unfortunate  prisoners  had  been  taken  in  honor 
able  battle ;  it  was  not  ignorance  of  the  law,  for  they  had 
constantly  with  them  all  those  great  rights  just  quoted; 
and  if  these  failed  to  convince,  they  could  have  found 
recorded  back  of  these,  "If  thine  enemy  hunger,  feed 
him ;"  and  still  farther  back  they  might  have  found  an 
example  worthy  of  imitation  which  I  can  not  refrain  from 


260  ANDERSONVILLE. 

here  giving.  A  large  number  of  Syrians  had  been,  by 
a  cunning  piece  of  strategy,  taken  captives,  and  became 
prisoners  of  war,  whereupon  the  following  dialogue  oc 
curred  :  "  And  the  king  of  Israel  said  unto  Elisha,  when 
he  saw  them,  My  father,  shall  I  smite  them  ?  shall  I 
smite  them  ?  And  he  answered,  Thou  shalt  not  smite 
them :  wouldest  thou  smite  those  whom  thou  hast  taken 
captive  with  thy  sword  and  with  thy  bow  ?  Set  bread 
and  water  before  them,  that  they  may  eat  and  drink,  and 
go  to  their  master.  And  he  prepared  great  provisions 
for  them ;  and  when  they  had  eaten  and  drunk,  he  sent 
them  away,  and  they  went  to  their  master"  (2  Kings, 
ch.  vi.). 

No,  gentlemen,  it  was  neither  retaliation,  punishment, 
nor  ignorance  of  the  law;  it  was  the  intrinsic  wickedness 
of  a  few  desperate  leaders,  seconded  by  mercenary  and 
heartless  monsters,  of  whom  the  prisoner  before  you  is  a 
fair  type. 

I  have  thus,  without  regard  to  the  evidence  under 
Charge  First,  presented  the  evidence  under  Charge  Sec 
ond  as  spread  upon  the  record,  showing  that  this  ac 
cused,  while  acting  as  commandant  of  the  prison  at  An- 
dersonville,  deliberately,  wantonly,  and  maliciously  de 
stroyed  the  lives  of  eighteen  prisoners  of  war  in  his  cus 
tody.  I  confess  myself  too  much  overcome  with  the 
melancholy  details  of  this  trial  and  its  frightful  disclo 
sures  to  dwell  longer  on  so  sad  a  theme. 

If  this  accused  still  answer  that,  admitting  the  facts 
charged,  he  did  these  things  in  the  exercise  of  authority 
lawfully  conferred  upon  him,  and  that  what  he  did  was 
necessary  to  the  discipline  and  safety  of  the  prisoners,  I 


ANDEKSONVILLE.  261 

answer  him  in  the  language  of  Lord  Mansfield  in  an  im 
portant  case, 

"In  trying  the  legality  of  acts  done  by  military  officers 
in  the  exercise  of  their  duty,  particularly  beyond  the 
seas,  where  cases  may  occur  without  the  possibility  of 
application  for  proper  advice,  great  latitude  ought  to  be 
allowed,  and  they  ought  not  to  suffer  for  a  slip  of  form 
if  their  intention  appears  by  the  evidence  to  have  been 
upright.  It  is  the  same  as  when  complaints  are  brought 
against  inferior  civil  magistrates,  such  as  justices  of  the 
peace,  for  acts  done  by  them  in  the  exercise  of  their  civil 
duty.  There  the  principal  inquiry  to  be  made  by  a  court 
of  justice  is  hoio  the  heart  stood,  and  if  there  appear  to  be 
nothing  wrong  there,  great  latitude  will  be  allowed  for 
misapprehension  or  mistake.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  if 
the  heart  is  wrong,  if  cruelty,  malice,  or  oppression  ap 
pear  to  have  occasioned  or  aggravated  the  imprisonment, 
or  other  injury  complained  of,  they  shall  not  cover  them 
selves  with  the  thin  veil  of  legal  forms,  or  escape  under 
the  cover  of  justification  the  most  technically  regular 
from  that  punishment  which  it  is  your  duty  to  inflict  on 
so  scandalous  an  abuse  of  public  trust"  (Wall  vs.  Mac- 
namara). 

May  it  please  the  Court, — I  have  hastily  analyzed  and 
presented  the  evidence  under  Charge  Second.  If  we  had 
not  traveled  through  the  history  of  those  long,  weary 
months  of  suffering,  torture,  starvation,  death,  and  be 
come  familiar  with  each  day's  roll  of  those  who  passed 
away,  the  mind  could  not  contemplate  this  last  though 
briefer  roster  of  the  dead  without  feelings  of  the  utmost 
horror.  Mortal  man  has  never  been  called  to  answer  be- 


262  ANDERSON  VILLE. 

fore  a  legal  tribunal  to  a  catalogue  of  crime  like  this. 
One  shudders  at  the  fact,  and  almost  doubts  the  age  we 
live  in.  I  would  not  harrow  up  your  minds  by  dwelling 
farther  upon  this  woeful  record.  The  obligation  you 
have  taken  constitutes  you  the  sole  judge  of  both  law 
and  fact.  I  pray  you  administer  the  one  and  decide  the 
other,  meting  out  to  those  involved  in  this  crime  of  the 
universe  all  justice,  without  fear,  favor,  or  partiality,  and 
without  regard  to  position,  high  or  low,  of  those  proved 
guilty. 


NOTE  FROM  THE  JUDGE  ADVOCATE. 

Washington,  D.C. 
AMBKOSE  SPENCER,  Esq.,  Americus,  Ga. : 

DEAR  Sin, — I  am  in  receipt  of  your  note  requesting  for  publication 
a  copy  of  the  argument  submitted  to  the  military  court  convened  for  the 
trial  of  Henry  Wirz,  and  which  you  propose  to  incorporate  in  your  "Nar 
rative  of  Andersonville." 

Permit  me  to  say,  in  cheerfully  acceding  to  your  request,  and  as  a  rea 
son  for  so  doing,  the  public  have  as  yet  but  a  very  imperfect  idea  of  rebel 
cruelties  perpetrated  at  Andersonville,  Ga.  These  can  never  be  known 
entirely  to  those  not  sufferers ;  but  a  grouping  of  the  evidence,  preserving 
the  language  of  the  witnesses  as  far  as  possible,  will  do  much  to  correct 
as  well  as  deepen  the  popular  impression.  The  address  asked  by  you  is 
not  so  much  an  argument  as  it  is  an  analysis  of  testimony,  and  for  this 
reason,  it  is  hoped,  will  contribute  to  the  object  of  your  book  in  the  point 
mentioned. 

Again :  While  the  evidence  adduced  convicts  Wirz  of  contributing  di 
rectly  to  the  death  of  over  TEN  THOUSAND  UNION  SOLDIERS,  and  with  his 
own  hand  and  by  his  direct  order  committing  THIRTEEN  individual  mur 
ders,  the  evidence  also  presents  the  horrible  fact  that  he  was  but  an  in 
strument  in  the  hands  of  Jefferson  Davis,  James  A.  Seddon,  and  other 
prominent  rebels ;  and  while  Wirz  suffered  deservedly,  there  are  those  yet 
unpunished  richly  worthy  an  ignominious  death.  These  are,  some  of 


ANDERSONVILLE.  263 

them,  solemnly  indicted  by  the  commission  who  sentenced  Wirz,  and  the 
paper  you  ask  presents  a  part  of  the  evidence  upon  which  that  indictment 
rests. 

Again :  If  to  convict  Wirz  of  murder  had  been  the  only  object,  the 
court  need  not  have  sat  a  fortnight.  As  I  conceived  the  purpose  of  the 
commission,  however,  a  wider  range  of  inquiry  was  intended,  and  hence 
the  wearisome  details  of  horror  spread  upon  five  thousand  folios,  implica 
ting  many,  and  presenting  a  continuous  scene  of  suffering  which  Dante's 
Inferno  nowhere  equals. 

But  for  your  book,  the  lessons  of  Andersonville  would  pass  away  and 
be  forgotten.  As  I  am  informed,  every  effort  to  secure  the  publication 
of  the  record  or  the  argument  you  now  ask,  either  as  a  private  enterprise 
or  in  any  other  way,  has  hitherto  been  unavailing.  A  copy  of  the  argu 
ment  was  made  a  part  of  the  annual  report  of  the  Judge  Advocate  Gen 
eral,  and  its  publication,  together  with  an  abbreviation  of  the  record,  ur 
gently  recommended,  yet  it  was  omitted,  through  some  influence,  from 
the  published  report  of  that  officer.  In  giving  to  the  world  this  history, 
you  are  performing  a  duty  which  the  country  has  failed  to  discharge,  but 
which  it  owes  to  the  survivors  and  the  slain  of  Andersonville,  while  you 
are  also  erecting  an  enduring  monument  to  the  infamy  of  their  murderers. 

If  the  paper  asked  can  contribute  to  this  end,  you  are  at  liberty  to  use 
it. 

You  will  remember  that  after  the  trial  began  I  was  ordered  to  strike 
from  the  charges  the  names  of  certain  high  rebel  functionaries,  and  I  was 
severely  rebuked  by  the  press,  North  and  South,  for  presuming  to  connect 
these  personages  with  the  cruelties  at  Andersonville.  I  say  to  you  now 
that  those  names  were  placed  in  the  indictment  upon  evidence  in  my  pos 
session  at  the  time,  and  the  finding  of  the  court  replacing  them  as  con 
spirators  is  my  vindication. 

You  will  remember,  too,  that  during  the  trial  I  was  subjected  to  the 
most  mendacious  assaults  by  certain  papers,  North  and  South,  for  mani 
festing  undue  zeal  in  the  case  and  for  other  reasons.  And  especially  was 
I  denounced  as  "unworthy  my  high  office"  for  having  expressed  in  open 
court  the  wish  "  that  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  South  had  been 
vaccinated  with  poisonous  matter  and  had  died" — this  in  connection  with 
the  evidence  touching  Wirz's  guilt  in  using  poisonous  vaccine  matter.  I 
hope  I  will  be  pardoned  for  this  personal  allusion ;  but  justice  to  myself 
and  friends — many  of  whom  were  shocked  to  see  such  a  monstrous  senti- 


264  ANDERSONVILLE. 

meat  attributed  to  me — demands  that  I  deny  squarely  the  infamous  im 
putation.     I  have  the  certificate  of  the  whole  court  to  its  fabrication. 

I  may  have,  and  did,  perhaps,  prosecute  the  case  with  zeal.  I  felt  the 
wrongs  perpetrated  upon  Union  prisoners — not  more,  however,  than  did 
some  who  were  Wirz's  associates.  I  would  have  been  less  than  human 
and  more  than  satanic  to  have  gone  through  that  trial  with  stoical  indif 
ference.  I  was  warmed  to  unusual  interest  by  taking  the  preliminary 
evidence,  and  confess  to  no  abatement  during  the  trial ;  but  so  far  from 
perverting  or  abusing  my  position,  or  exhibiting  such  a  spirit  as  was 
charged  by  the  slanderous  statements  above,  the  record  is  full  of  acknowl 
edgments,  both  from  the  prisoner  and  his  counsel,  of  my  uniform  fairness 
and  professional  courtesy. 

Believing  that  your  book  will  have  a  historic  value  in  perpetuating 

the  proofs  of  guilt,  and  at  the  same  time  will  absolve  the  mass  of  the 

South  from  a  participation  in  one  of  the  most  stupendous  crimes  of  which 

any  age  and  any  time  furnishes  a  record,  I  wish  it  and  you  every  success. 

Very  truly  your  friend, 

N.  P.  CHIPMAN. 


ANDEKSONVILLE.  265 


CHAPTER  XYIII. 

Tlie  Findings  of  the  Court. — Notice  of  the  Argument. — Order  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States. — The  Murderer's  Fate. — Tables  of 
Mortality. 

THE  argument  of  the  judge  advocate,  Colonel  N.  P. 
Chipman,  as  here  introduced,  pays  but  a  poor  compli 
ment  to  the  intellectual  ability  or  legal  talent  displayed  in 
its  preparation.  The  author  has  assumed  a  liberty  that 
admits  of  but  one  apology — insufficient  for  the  advocate, 
he  is  willing  to  acknowledge — the  want  of  space  to  give 
the  whole.  In  curtailing  it,  however,  he  has  omitted 
nothing  except  what  is  contained  in  the  Narrative,  a  rep 
etition  of  which  might  weary  the  already  tired  attention 
of  the  reader. 

It  may  not  be  improper  to  say  that  the  effort  was  pro 
nounced  by  competent  judges  one  of  the  ablest  that  has 
been  given  by  an  officer  of  the  government  since  the  com 
mencement  of  the  rebellion,  in  any  case  arising  from  it. 

The  portions  omitted  were  only  abstracts  of  the  evi 
dence  given  at  the  trial  of  Wirz,  and  which,  if  introduced, 
would  only  recall  what  has  been  recited.  The  legal 
points  have  been  retained  as  delivered.  These  will  de 
mand  the  careful  consideration  of  those  who  question 
either  the  right  or  the  power  of  government  to  punish 
men  who  have  placed  themselves  under  the  control  of 
military  law  by  the  operation  of  that  law.  The  argu- 

M 


266  ANDERSON  VILLE. 

ment  upon  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  removes  any 
doubts  that  may  have  been  entertained  as  to  its  powers. 

"  General  Court-martial. — Orders  No.  607. 

"War  Department,  Adjutant  General's  Office,) 
Washington,  November  6, 1865.  ) 

"  Before  a  Military  Commission  which  convened  at 
Washington,  D.  C.,  August  23,  1865,  pursuant  to  para 
graph  3,  Special  Orders  No.  453,  dated  August  23, 1865, 
and  paragraph  13,  Special  Orders  No.  524,  dated  Octo 
ber  2, 1865,  War  Department,  Adjutant  General's  Office, 
Washington,  and  of  which  Major  General  Lewis  Wallace, 
United  States  Volunteers,  is  President,  was  arraigned  and 
tried  Henry  Wirz. 

"  FINDING. — The  Commission,  having  maturely  consid 
ered  the  evidence  adduced,  find  the  accused,  Henry  Wirz, 
as  follows : 

"  Of  the  specification  to  Charge  I.,  (  GUILTY,'  after 
amending  said  specification  to  read  as  follows :  In  this, 
that  he,  the  said  Henry  Wirz,  did  combine,  confederate, 
and  conspire  with  them,  the  said  Jefferson  Davis,  James  A. 
Seddon,  Howell  Cobb,  John  H.  Winder,  Eichard  B.  Win 
der,  Isaiah  H.  White,  W.  S.  Winder,  W.  Shelby  Eeed,  K. 
E.  Stevenson,  S.  P.  Moore, Kerr,  late  hospital  stew 
ard  at  Andersonville,  James  Duncan,  Wesley  W.  Turner, 
Benjamin  Harris,  and  others,  whose  names  are  unknown, 
citizens  of  the  United  States  aforesaid,  and  who  were 
then  engaged  in  armed  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  maliciously,  traitorously,  and  in  violation  of  the 
laws  of  war,  to  impair  and  injure  the  health,  and  to  de 
stroy  the  lives — by  subjecting  to  torture  and  great  suffer- 


ANDERSON  VILLE.  267 

ing,  by  confining  in  unhealthy  and  unwholesome  quar 
ters,  by  exposing  to  the  inclemency  of  winter  and  to  the 
dews  and  burning  sun  of  summer,  by  compelling  the  use 
of  impure  water,  and  by  furnishing  insufficient  and  un 
wholesome  food — of  large  numbers  of  Federal  prisoners, 
to  wit,  the  number  of  about  forty -five  thousand  soldiers 
in  the  military  service  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
held  as  prisoners  of  war  at  Andersonville,  in  the  State  of 
Georgia,  within  the  lines   of  the  so-called  Confederate 
States,  on  or  before  the  27th  day  of  March,  A.D.  1864, 
and  at  divers  times  between  that  day  and  the  10th  day 
of  April,  A.D.  1865,  to  the  end  that  the  armies  of  the 
United  States  might  be  weakened  and  impaired,  and  the 
insurgents  engaged  in  armed  rebellion  against  the  United 
States  might  be  aided  and  comforted. 
"  Of  Charge  I, '  GUILTY.' 
"  Of  Specification  first  to  Charge  II., '  GUILTY/ 
"  Of  Specification  second  to  Charge  II., '  GUILTY.' 
"  Of  Specification  third  to  Charge  II., '  GUILTY.' 
"  Of  Specification  four  to  Charge  II., '  Not  Guilty} 
11  Of  Specification  five  to  Charge  II, '  GUILTY.' 
"  Of  Specification  six  to  Charge  II., '  GUILTY.' 
"  Of  Specification  seven  to  Charge  II., '  GUILTY.' 
"Of  Specifications    eight   and   nine   to   Charge   II., 
4  GUILTY.' 

"  Of  Specification  ten  to  Charge  II.,1  Not  Guilty: 
"  Of  Specification  eleven  to  Charge  II., '  GUILTY.' 
11  Of  Specification  twelve  to  Charge  II., '  GUILTY.' 
"  Of  Specification  thirteen  to  Charge  II.,  'Not  Guilty.' 
"Of  Charge  II.,' GUILTY.' 
"  SENTENCE. — And  the  Commission  does  therefore  sen- 


268  ANDERSONVILLE. 

tence  him,  the  said  Henry  "Wirz,  '  to  be  hanged  by  the 
neck  till  he  be  dead,  at  such  time  and  place  as  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  may  direct,  two  thirds  of  the 
court  concurring  therein.7 

"II.  The  proceedings,  findings,  and  sentence  in  the 
foregoing  case  having  been  submitted  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  the  following  are  his  orders : 

"  'Executive  Mansion" November  3, 1865. 

"  '  The  proceedings,  findings,  and  sentence  of  the  court 
in  the  within  case  are  approved,  and  it  is  ordered  that 
the  sentence  be  carried  into  execution  by  the  officer  com 
manding  the  Department  of  Washington  on  Friday,  the 
10th  day  of  November,  1865,  between  the  hours  of  6 
o'clock  A.M.  and  12  o'clock  noon. 

"  '  ANDKEW  JOHNSON,  President.' 

"  III.  Major  General  C.  C.  Augur,  commanding  the  De 
partment  of  Washington,  is  commanded  to  cause  the  fore 
going  sentence  in  the  case  of  Henry  Wirz  to  be  duly  ex 
ecuted  in  accordance  with  the  President's  order. 

"  IV.  The  Military  Commission,  of  which  Major  Gen 
eral  Lewis  Wallace,  United  States  Volunteers,  is  Presi 
dent,  is  hereby  dissolved. 

"  By  command  of  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
" E.  D.  TOWNSEND,  Assistant  Adjutant  General." 

On  the  10th  of  November,  1865,  Henry  Wirz  suffered 
the  penalty  due  to  his  crimes  at  Andersonville. 

The  expiation  thus  made  does  not  necessarily  shield 
the  character  of  the  jailer  of  that  prison  from  investiga- 


ANDERSONVILLE.  269 

tion  and  censure,  but  it  would  be  ascribing  too  great  im 
portance  to  his  name  or  position  to  dwell  upon  it  at  great 
er  length  than  has  been  already  done.  Above  his  igno 
minious  grave  will  ever  float  the  remembrance  of  his 
thousand  crimes,  to  mark  the  resting-place  of  a  willing 
tool  and  murderer,  while  his  memory  will  be  handed 
down  pre-eminent  among  the  bad  men  of  the  world,  but 
especially  notorious  as  the  Jailer  of  Andersonville. 


270 


ANDERSONVILLE. 


Exhibit  from  Hospital  Register,  Andersonville  Prison  Records. 


Whole  Num 
ber  of  Deaths 
as  shown  by 
Hospital  Reg 
ister. 

Total  Num- 
ber  of  Deaths 
in  Hospital. 

Total  Num 
ber  of  Deaths 
in  Stockade. 

Cases  re 
turned  from 
Hospital  to 
Stockade. 

Per  Cent,  of 
Deaths  to 
Number  ad 
mitted  to 
Hospital. 

Proportion  of 
Deaths  for 
each  Month  of 
the  13  during 
which  the  Pris 
on  existed. 

12,462 

8735 

3727 

3469 

ttif 

958 

Diseases  and  Number  of  Deaths  resulting  from  each  Disease. 


Diarrhosa 

3952 

Constipation       

5 

Scurvy       .     .  .      

3574 

Ophthalmia  (Eye)  

5 

Dvsenterv 

1648 

Nephritis  (Kidneys) 

4 

Unknown       .         

1268 

Vaccine  Ulcers  

4 

Aiinscu'Cii  (General  Drop-"} 

Laryngitis  (Throat) 

4 

sv^                             ...  i 

377 

Icterus  (Liver)    .... 

3 

Typhoid  Fever  

229 

Ictus  Solis  (Sun-stroke).... 

3 

221 

3 

Debility        

198 

Asthma/  .        .        . 

3 

Intermittent  and  Remit-  f 

Scrofula  

3 

177 

3 

Gun-shot  Wounds     

149 

Dyspepsia       

2 

109 

Home  Sickness  

2 

Bronchitis  

93 

Fistula  

2 

Rheumatism  

83 

Diabetes  

] 

63 

1 

Catarrh             

55 

Paralysis     ...       

1 

Ulcers  

51 

Fever  and  Ague  

1 

Phthisis 

36 

Hydrocele.  or  Dropsy  of) 

Ascites,    or    Abdominal) 

Testicles  ) 

1 

Dropsy                          \ 

24 

Consumption 

1 

Erysipelas      

11 

Hemorrhoids  (Piles)    .... 

1 

7 

1 

JV"-     

Asphyxia        .    ...       .... 

7 

Stricture  .. 

1 

Jaundice  

6 

Gangrene  

63 

Wounds  

6 

Total  

12,462 

ANDERSONVILLE. 


271 


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272 


ANDERSONVILLE. 


The  following  Table,  compiled  from  Official  Records,  gives  the  Number  of 
British  Soldiers  killed  in  Action,  or  who  jterishedfrom  Wounds. 


Years. 

Battles. 

Total  Strength 
engaged. 

Estimated 
Deaths. 

1809 
1811 
1812 
1813 

1815     \ 

1854 
1815 

22,  100 
9,000 
30,500 

I    49,900 
G,000 

1,445 
1,358 
770 

3,245 

4,595 
625 

.Albuera     ...               . 

Salamanca  

Vittoria  

Xjicnv 

**»»wj      ^V 

Quatre  Bras  

Waterloo  

\Vavre   ... 

Crimea  

New  Orleans  

Total  number  of  deaths  from  wounds  12,928 

The  official  records  of  the  British  army  show  that  but 
2755  men  and  officers  were  killed  in  action  during  the 
whole  Crimean  War. 


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Motley's  Dutch  Republic.     The  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic. 

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of  the  English-Dutch  Struggle  against  Spain,  and  of  the  Origin  and  Destruction  of  the 
Spanish  Armada.  By  JOHN  LOTIIROP  MOTLEY,  LL.D.,  D.C.L.,  Author  of  "The  Ri=o 
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SERIES From  the  Adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution  to  the  End  of  the  Sixteenth 

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"rney  do  honor  to  American  Literature,  and  would  do 
honor  to  the  Literature  of  any  Country  in  the  World." 


THE   RISE   OF 
THE    DUTCH    REPUBLIC. 


BY  JOHN  LOTHKOP  MOTLEY. 

Ne\r  Edition.    With  a  Portrait  of  WILLIAM  OF  ORANGE.    3  vols. 
8vo,  Muslin,  $9  00. 

We  regard  this  work  as  the  best  contribution  to  modern  history  that  has  yet 
been  made  by  an  American.  —  Methodist  Quarterly  Review. 

The  "History  of  the  Dutch  Kepublic"  is  a  great  gift  to  us;  but  the  heart  and 
earnestness  that  beat  through  all  its  pages  are  greater,  for  they  give  us  most 
timely  inspiration  to  vindicate  the  true  ideas  of  our  country,  and  to  compose  an 
able  history  of  our  own.  —  Christian  Examiner  (Boston). 

This  work  bears  on  its  face  the  evidences  of  scholarship  and  research.  Tha 
arrangement  is  clear  and  effective  ;  the  style  energetic,  lively,  and  often  brilliant. 
•  *  *  Mr.  Motley's  instructive  volumes  will,  we  trust,  have  a  circulation  commen 
surate  with  their  interest  and  value.—  Protestant  Episcopal  Quarterly  Review. 

To  the  illustration  of  this  most  interesting  period  Mr.  Motley  has  brought  the 
matured  powers  of  a  vigorous  and  brilliant  mind,  and  the  abundant  fruits  of  pa 
tient  and  judicious  study  and  deep  reflection.  The  result  is,  one  of  the  most 
important  contributions  to  historical  literature  that  have  been  made  in  this  coun 
try.  —  North  American  Review. 

We  would  conclude  this  notice  by  earnestly  recommending  our  readers  to  pro 
cure  for  themselves  this  truly  great  and  admirable  work,  by  the  production  of 
which  the  author  has  conferred  no  less  honor  upon  his  country  than  he  has  won 
praise  and  fame  for  himself,  and  than  which,  we  can  assure  them,  they  can  find 
nothing  more  attractive  or  interesting  within  the  compass  of  modern  literature. 
—  Evangelical  Review. 

It  is  not  often  that  we  have  the  pleasure  of  commending  to  the  attention  of  the 
lover  of  books  a  work  of  such  extraordinary  aud  unexceptionable  excellence  as 
this  one.  —  Univcrsalist  Quarterly  Review. 

There  are  an  elevation  and  a  classic  polish  in  these  volumes,  and  a  felicity  of 
grouping  and  of  portraiture,  which  invest  the  subject  with  the  attractions  of  a 
living  and  stirring  episode  in  the  grand  historic  drama.—  Southern  Methodist 
Quarterly  Review. 

The  author  writes  with  a  genial  glow  and  love  of  his  subject—  Presbyterian 
Quarterly  Revieio. 

Mr.  Motley  is  a  sturdy  Republican  and  a  hearty  Protestant.  His  style  is  live- 
ly  and  picturesque,  and  his  work  is  an  honor  and  an  important  accession  to  our 
national  literature.  —  Church  Revieio. 


Mr.  Motley's  work  is  an  important  one,  the  result  of  profound  research, 
convictions,  sound  principles,  and  manly  sentiments;  and  even  those  who  are 
most  familiar  with  the  history  of  the  period  will  find  in  it  a  fresh  and  vivid  ad 
dition  to  their  previous  knowledge.  It  does  honor  to  American  literature,  and 
•v/ould  do  honor  to  the  literature  of  any  country  in  the  world.  —  Edinburgh  Re 
view. 

A  serious  chasm  in  English  historical  literature  has  been  (by  this  book)  very 
remarkably  filled.  *  *  *  A  history  as  complete  as  industry  and  genius  can  make 
it  now  lies  before  us,  of  the  first  twenty  years  of  the  revolt  of  the  United  Prov 
inces.  *  *  *  All  the  essentials  of  a  great  writer  Mr.  Motley  eminently  possesses, 
Ilia  mind  is  broad,  his  industry  unwearied.  In  power  of  dramatic  description 
no  modern  historian,  except,  perhaps,  Mr.  Carlyle,  surpasses  him,  and  in  analy 
sis  of  character  he  is  elaborate  and  distinct.  —  Westminster  Revieio. 


2    MOTLEY'S  RISE  OP  THE  DUTCH  REPUBLIC. 

It  is  a  work  of  real  historical  value,  the  result  of  accurate  criticism,  -written 
ia  a  liberal  spirit,  and  from  first  to  last  deeply  interesting.— Athenaeum. 

The  style  is  excellent,  clear,  vivid,  eloquent;  and  the  industry  with  which 
original  sources  have  been  investigated,  and  through  which  new  light  has  been 
ehed  over  perplexed  incidents  and  characters,  entitles  Mr.  Motley  to  a  high  rank 
in  the  literature  of  an  age  peculiarly  rich  in  history. — North  British  Heview. 

It  abounds  in  new  information,  and,  as  a  first  work,  commands  a  very  cordial 
recognition,  not  merely  of  the  promise  it  gives,  but  of  the  extent  and  importance 
of  the  labor  actually  performed  on  it. — London  Examiner. 

Mr.  Motley's  "History"  is  a  work  of  which  any  country  might  be  proud. 

f^ress  (London). 

Mr.  Motley's  History  will  be  a  standard  book  of  reference  in  historical  litera 
ture. — London  Literary  Gazette. 

Mr.  Motley  has  searched  the  whole  range  of  historical  documents  necessary  to 
the  composition  of  his  work. — London  Leader. 

This  is  really  a  great  work.  It  belongs  to  the  class  of  books  in  which  we 
range  our  Grotes,  Milmansa  Merivales,  and  Macaulays,  as  the  glories  of  English 
literature  in  the  department  of  history.  *  *  «  Mr.  Motley's  gifts  as  a  historical 
writer  are  among  the  highest  and  rarest. — Nonconformist  (London). 

Mr.  Motley's  volumes  will  well  repay  perusal.  *  *  *  For  his  learning,  his  liberal 
tone,  and  his  generous  enthusiasm,  we  heartily  commend  him,  and  bid  him  good 
speed  for  the  remainer  of  his  interesting  and  heroic  narrative. — Saturday  Review. 

The  story  is  a  noble  one,  and  is  worthily  treated.  *  *  *  Mr.  Motley  has  had  the 
patience  to  unravel,  with  unfailing  perseverance,  the  thousand  intricate  plots  of 
the  adversaries  of  the  Prince  of  Orange ;  but  the  details  and  the  literal  extracts 
which  he  has  derived  from  original  documents,  and  transferred  to  his  pages, 
give  a  truthful  color  and  a  picturesque  effect,  which  are  especially  charming. — 
London  Daily  News. 

M.  Lothrop  Motley  dans  son  magnifique  tableau  de  la  formation  de  notre  R6- 
publique.— G.  GBOEN  VAN  PKINSTEKEE. 

Our  accomplished  countryman,  Mr.  J.  Lothrop  Motley,  who,  during  the  last 
five  years,  for  the  better  prosecution  of  his  labors,  has  established  his  residence 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  scenes  of  his  narrative.  No  one  acquainted  with  the 
fine  powers  of  mind  possessed  by  this  scholar,  and  the  earnestness  with  which  he 
has  devoted  himself  to  the  task,  can  doubt  that  he  will  do  full  justice  to  his  im 
portant  but  difficult  subject. — W.  H.  PRESOOTT. 

The  production  of  such  a  work  as  this  astonishes,  while  it  gratifies  the  pride 
of  the  American  reader. — N.  Y.  Observer. 

The  "Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic"  at  once,  and  by  acclamation,  takes  its 
place  by  the  "  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  as  a  work  which,  wheth 
er  for  research,  substance,  or  style,  will  never  be  superseded. — N.  Y.  Albion. 

A  work  upon  which  all  who  read  the  English  language  may  congratulate 
themselves. — New  Yorker  Handels  Zeitung. 

Mr.  Motley's  place  is  now  (alluding  to  this  book)  with  Hallam  and  Lord  Ma- 
hon,  Alison  and  Macaulay  in  the  Old  Country,  and  with  Washington  Irving, 
Prescott,  and  Bancroft  in  this.  — N.  Y.  Times. 

THE  authority,  in  the  Fjnglish  tongue,  for  the  history  of  the  period  and  people 
to  which  it  refers.— .V.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer. 

This  work  at  once  places  the  author  on  the  list  of  American  historians  which 
has  been  so  signally  illustrated  by  the  names  of  Irving,  Prescott,  Bancroft,  and 
Hildreth.—  Boston  Times. 

The  work  is  a  noble  one,  and  a  most  desirable  acquisition  to  our  historical  lit 
erature.—  Mobile  Advertiser. 

Such  a  work  is  an  honor  to  its  author,  to  his  country,  and  to  the  age  in  which 
it  was  written. — Ohio  Farmer. 

Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 

Franklin  Square,  New  York. 


HAEVKB  &  BBOTHERS  will  send  the  above  Work  by  Mail  (postage  paid  (for  any 
distance  in  the  United  States  under  3000  miles),  on  receipt  of  the  Money. 


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